Deeds of the Few
by Zephyr4000
Summary: AU/OC: An orphan's rise from a Blue Suns engineer to Council Spectre. A sole survivor's rise from Eclipse vanguard to a leader in the crime world. An admiral's child's rise from a sheltered girl to a hardened soldier. Their paths collide, and the galaxy pays the price. Eventual FemShep/Liara.
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. All characters, except the OCs, belong to Bioware.)

**Shepard:**

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Local Cluster, Sol, Earth, England, London_

_April 10__th__, 2166—Earth Standard _

Earth was a lie, a farce. A front the Alliance put up to make humanity seem more important than they actually were. Earth was a dump filled with criminals and anti-alien garbage. Ever since the Alliance started colonizing new planets, everyone left looking for an adventure or a fresh start. Those that stayed, however, thought themselves to be more superior to the other species. Thought they didn't need their help, or their Council.

And that was—arguably—what annoyed Eleonora Shepard the most; that she was surrounded by complete and utter _heathens. _For twelve years she lived in the slums of Earth. For twelve years she put up with the Tenth Street Reds and their pro-human bullshit just to survive another day in the streets of hell.

A movement on one of the screens got her attention, and she frowned. Eleonora switched to the monitor screen that was hooked up to the camera outside her door. A few more buttons were pressed, and the image was combined into the twelve screens in front of her.

Two people, and only one she recognized. Finch was hard to miss with his greasy dark brown hair and his boastful personality. But the other man got her attention. He was older. Too old to be around a bunch of orphaned kids, or even making a deal with them. And there was something about the way he carried himself that put her on edge. Like he was expecting trouble. The blue-white armor he wore wasn't one she recognized from any of the local gangs, either.

She turned up the sound just in time to hear the last part of Finch's speech.

"—A savant. Best tech expert you'll ever meet. Guaranteed."

The savant blinked, and dedicated half of the monitors to run a background check on the mysterious man. The monitors spewed out his information at incredible speed, and her green eyes flickered over them. Absorbing everything.

Zaeed Massani. An ex-Alliance soldier. Dishonorably discharged. Became bounty hunter for years and later co-founded the Blue Suns mercenary group with Vido Santiago.

Her fingers froze over the holographic keyboard. The co-founder of the Blue Suns was in the Reds' hideout. She'd heard rumors about the space-faring mercenary group, rumors that would make the Reds sound like child play.

"Better be straight up with me, kid," Massani's gruff—and accented—voice sounded through her speakers, "The Blue Suns only work with the best."

"Ya, no one's better than Shep," Finch boasted, "Not even them quarians."

Finch compared her to the exiled race. The same race that built the AIs—the geth—then lost their homeworld to them. The quarians weren't smart. Not by a long shot.

Shepard cleared her screens, and started twelve different and separate searches on anything that was not related to mercenaries, the Blue Suns, or Massani himself. The doors to her haven opened just as the new searches appeared.

"That little thing is the your tech expert," she heard Massani spit behind her, "I'm not a goddamn babysitter. Deal's off."

Zaeed pulled out his assault rifle and aimed at Finch's sweaty brow. He gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger. Finch closed his eyes, and waited for the blast of the gun to go off, but all he heard was quick successive beeps coming from the weapon. The young boy dared to open his eyes, and saw the seasoned mercenary pounding on his overheated gun. An orange glow disappeared from behind Zaeed, and Finch smirked, crossing his arms.

"Thanks, Shepard," Finch called, smugly, and turned back to the mercenary, "So, about that deal…?"

Zaeed looked over his shoulder at the little 'tech-expert'. The little girl couldn't have been older than ten, but she still managed to sabotage his M-8 Avenger—his _Jesse_—halfway across the room. That kind of tech was only available to the military, and that kid somehow got her grubby little hands on it. The little redhead might be better than he had ever hoped.

Massani crossed his arms, and leaned on his back leg, "Fine. But she better be as good as you say, kid."

Finch grinned, "If you send us the resources you promised, she will be."


	2. Chapter 2

(AN: I'm not Italian, so if there are any mistakes in my translations please let me know. Thank you)

**Sawyer:**

_Milky Way, Attican Traverse, Kepler Verge, Herschel, Mindoir, Chester_

_November 4__th__, 2170—Earth Standard_

Smoke filled her lungs and the smell of burning flesh stung. She closed her eyes, but she could still hear the screams of her neighbors and the maniacal laughter of her tormenters echoing in her ears.

A mixture of red and orange blood obscured her face. Bodies—both human and Batarian—littered the soil beneath her blood-soaked feet. All of them mutilated beyond belief. The fire slowly but surely approached the human.

A pained groan sounded before her, and her eyes snapped open. Grey orbs burning through the half-dead _beast. _

It was begging, raising its only arm towards her, the other one being a meter away. Orange blood oozed out of its many wounds, but it still wasn't enough. Itcoughed, and pleaded to the human, all four of its eyes trying to convey its pain.

The human snarled and in one fluid motion raised the monster into the air by its broad neck. The Batarian closed half of its eyes, and clutched the human's arm with its five-fingered hand. She growled as she felt its hold weakening on her arm. That beast wasn't going to get to die this easily. Not when her family suffered.

The fire was close enough that she could feel the heat on her skin. Her grey eyes flickered to the wonderful blend of beauty and chaos before returning to her prey. All four of its eyes widened and it croaked. Futilely pleading.

She smirked. Its blood froze, and neither human nor Batarian heard the shuttle nearby.

* * *

"Did you hear that?"

"You need to calm down, Zabaleta," one of the soldiers snapped, his weapon out and ready for any batarian stragglers they might encounter. Normally he wouldn't mind Lt. Zabaleta but ever since they got planet-side the lieutenant was jumpier than usual.

"I heard it, too. Sounded like someone screaming," Sergeant Heather Keats whispered, using her rifle's scope to try and identify it. Her blue eyes widened, "There's someone! Human by the fire less than a klick away!"

"Finally, a survivor," the soldier grumbled.

The group of marines spread out, leaving Keats and Ernesto Zabaleta with the seated human. The girl, who Heather could've sworn didn't look older than seventeen, didn't acknowledge the marines' presence. Her attention was solely fixed on the fire; her eyes unblinking. Zabaleta hesitated when he saw the amount of blood on her—most of it not even hers.

Most of it not even human.

"Hey," Heather cooed, collapsing her rifle and returning it to its rightful place on the mag-strip on her back, "You're safe now. Everything's going to be okay, sweetie," the Sergeant crouched down to her level, "My name is Heather Keats. What's yours?"

Cold grey eyes flashed to the experienced marine, and Heather was proud of herself for not flinching.

"You're late."

Heather stayed silent, hoping the girl would elaborate, but she didn't. She turned back to the fire, hugging her scruffy knees to her chest. The sergeant turned to her companion behind her, hoping he'd be some help. She frowned lightly at his paled expression. She followed his line of sight to the fire, and froze.

A charred body was forever frozen trying to escape the unbearable pain the fire brought. Heather vaguely heard Ernesto losing last night's dinner. The skull looked distinctly Batarian, and she knew that they deserved that kind of death for the horrors that they brought to the backwater colony. But deep down she still couldn't help feeling pity for him. She swallowed and turned on the communications channel.

"S-Sergeant Keats to base camp," she stammered, "We found a wounded survivor. Prep the med-bay."

She silenced the comm. channel when she received her affirmative. Sparing one last look at the fire, Heather helped the survivor up and ushered her to the Alliance base camp.

* * *

Dr. Karin Chakwas sighed as another soldier died at her table. She closed Major Penelope Song Hackett's honey-colored eyes, and filled out the paperwork. The door to her temporary med-bay opened, and Commander David Anderson walked in. He rolled his shoulder.

"How's the Major?"

Dr. Chakwas shook her head, "There was nothing we could do for her, David. I'm afraid Steven should be contacted. Their poor children…"

Commander Anderson placed his calloused hand on her shoulder, "You did what you could, Karin. God had other plans for Penelope."

"She was a good friend," Dr. Chakwas whispered.

There were a few moments of silence before the med-bay doors opened, and a Sergeant Keats walked in helping a young—bloodied and limping—girl in.

"Doctor," Sergeant Keats panted, "You have to help her."

"Let go," the wounded survivor muttered.

"Place her on a stretcher," Dr. Chakwas said while setting up her medical supplies. The survivor started thrashing, "Restrain her if you have to. David, you've just been promoted to nurse."

"Understood," Anderson said, and turned to Keats, "Report to Captain Kahoku."

"Yes, sir," Keats saluted and walked out.

The survivor was still struggling with the restraints; Dr. Chakwas tried to calm her down by placing a hand on the survivor's shoulder.

"_Lasciami andare!"_1

"Your bones are broken," Dr. Chakwas said, "If you keep struggling it'll make your injuries worse."

"I don't care! Just leave me!"

The survivor jerked against the restraints, her hand knocking away the scissors from Dr. Chakwas. The scissors flew and carved a line down the survivor's forearm.

"David! Get me the anesthesia!" the mask was placed in Dr. Chakwas' hands, and she continued, "Hold her down."

Anderson pressed his hands on the survivor's shoulders, while Chakwas struggled to get the mask over her mouth and nose.

"Shh," Chakwas whispered stroking the survivor's white hair, "You're okay, now, my child. You're safe."

Tears streamed down the survivor's cheeks before her vision faded.

* * *

1 "Let go of me" = Italian


	3. Chapter 3

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Afterlife Club_

_January 27__th__, 2171—Earth Standard _

Omega was the capital station of the lawless Terminus Systems.

Vido Santiago knew that Omega was a pisshole in an asteroid, but he also knew that the Blue Suns couldn't afford to be picky with who they made business with. And if he had to play nice with the asari matriarch to expand their influence, then he would in a heartbeat.

Getting an appointment with said matriarch wasn't as easy. Almost no one—but her personal bodyguards and her choice of _entertainers—_came up to see Aria T'Loak. But Santiago was nothing if not crafty. He turned to his little companion, and handed her his M-6 Carnifex pistol.

"Need you to get Aria's attention," Vido ordered over the loud music of the nightclub, "Can you do that?"

"Acknowledged."

Shepard took the pistol, and activated the tactical cloak from her omni-tool on her wrist. Her body flickered then vanished. Santiago looked around and grinned. Not one drunkard or anyone from Aria's Organization noticed the savant disappearing.

* * *

Aria hated doing business with the insufferable elcor, Harrot. His problems were mundane, and to add insult to injury his monotone voice wasn't keeping her interested enough, either. She crossed her legs, and leaned back on her infamous couch.

"With barely contained terror: I've come to ask for your permission to open up a store on Omega. I will give you a fifteen-percent discount on my wares, in addition to twenty-percent of the profit."

She scoffed, "I don't think you understood me, Harrot. My offer wasn't up for negotiation. Either you give me sixty-percent of your profits, or you can take your business elsewhere. Although, I'm sure you can't sell any of your _merchandise_ anywhere else in the galaxy."

A distinctive click drove her attention away from the elcor to her bodyguards. They all looked bored, and uninterested—as if they didn't hear it, or they were the cause of it.

She reinforced her biotic barrier and kept a close eye on her surroundings. Everything looked normal, but Aria didn't survive for hundreds of years by being careless. Her fingers started tingling from the excess of biotic energy.

"With false bravado: You have to understand, Aria. The Blood Pack requires me to pay them for security. I can't afford to pay you."

Something flickered on her left, and she attacked. She felt like she slashed something, and a quick glance at her hand showed thick red liquid. Aria narrowed her eyes.

Only four known space-faring species bleed red: varren, vorcha, human, and quarian. It couldn't have been a varren; they were mindless beasts, almost pets. vorcha weren't smart enough to think an attack like this through, let alone execute it. The quarians, with their weakened immune system, would get an infection from the cut Aria had given them, not to mention that their enviro-suit would have protected against her attack. The only plausible choice would be human.

A familiar barrel pressed at her gut.

"Concerned: Aria, is everything alright?"

The Queen of Omega ignored the useless elcor, and glared at the invisible barrel. It flickered, and a tiny human female with blue and white armor materialized. All four of her usual bodyguards had their weapons out and trained on the human.

Angry blue eyes met steely viridian. The Human was young—barely a maiden if Aria were to compare her to an asari's life cycle—but her skills rivaled a matriarch or even a commando, without the biotics. The red unkempt mop on her head clashed horribly with her armor. A string of thick red liquid oozed out from her chin, and Aria snarled.

"The Blue Suns want to talk."

Half of her guards turned to the cocky voice, the others stayed on the girl. Any other time, Aria would be impressed by her guards' coordination. But at that moment, a human child managed to sneak up to her and had a gun to her. Aria was furious. Omega was annoyed.

The man grinned, "Let Aria go, kid. We're here to talk after all."

The girl nodded once, and backed away from the glaring matriarch. The Carnifex was placed on the mag-strip at her hip, and her hands were crossed behind her back.

"Nervously: What about—"

"Come back later, Harrot," the asari snapped, "I'm busy."

"Dejectedly: Understood."

The elcor left her throne, and the man smirked

"Name's Vido Santiago," the man introduced, "Co-founder of the Blue Suns. I apologize for my _partner's_ intrusion but we needed someway to get your attention."

She didn't like him. Something about the man rubbed her the wrong way. Aria strutted back to her couch, her blue eyes never leaving the human girl. She wasn't worried about him stabbing her in the back considering he sent a human child to do his bidding. That girl was more dangerous than he will ever be; Aria would stake Omega on it.

"You have my attention," Aria started, "What do you want?"

"You should tell your lackeys to stand down, Aria. Hate for this to turn into a bloodbath."

Aria frowned, "You said you wanted to talk, but I'm not hearing anything important. Make this worth my time or I'll have my men acquaint you with the airlock, Mr. Santiago."

"Noted," Santiago cleared his throat, and turned to the child, "Get out of here, Shepard. Let the grown-ups handle this."

Her viridian eyes met Aria's blues. With a stiff nod, the child left. Shepard. Aria would remember her name. The name of the only one who challenged her in nearly four hundred years.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Again, I'm not Italian, so sorry if there are any mistakes. Blame Google Translate.**

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium, Nos Astra_

_December 2__nd__, 2171—Earth Standard_

Captain Wasea never understood why Sederis invited the white-haired human into the Eclipse gang. She was rude, sarcastic, and rarely took anything seriously. If it were up to Wasea, she would've dumped the human on the first hostile planet they passed. Preferably one with the largest Thresher Maw nest. Tuchanka, maybe.

But as Wasea crouched down and examined the battered, bruised and definitely dead salarian in front of her, she respected the human's abilities. She still thought the human was a nuisance, but she got the job done. That was more than she could say about most of the initiates Sederis dumped with the slightly younger asari commando.

The salarian's joints were bent at unnatural angles; lacerations covered the surface of his body, and the burns on his yellow-green skin made the amphibian look more appealing. But that was just Wasea's opinion. His green blood was everywhere, even on the human's light armor and face, but the grinning human didn't seem too bothered about it.

"Did you get the information?"

"Yup," the human smirked, "The contact's name is Mayn, another lizard. He's holed up in Loading Bay A23."

Wasea nodded, straightening up, "Good job, Sawyer."

"_Che cos'è?_1" Sawyer mocked, "Did you use my name _and _give me a compliment? Are you feeling okay, Cap?"

"Keep talking and I'll take someone else with me, vermin."

"Ah, much better," the human grinned, following the older asari.

"You're lucky you're useful."

The corner of Sawyer's lips turned upwards.

* * *

Mayn was nervous. He hired the best bodyguards that credits could buy but he still wasn't comfortable. He had a krogan battle-master, who fought in the krogan Rebellions a thousand years ago, and a turian from the Relay 314 Incident. Of all the species in the galaxy, the salarian managed to get the two most war-loving species in his pocket, but he still couldn't relax.

In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have hired the krogan. Mayn's ancestors sterilized them almost a thousand years ago, and the turians released the bio-weapon, while the krogans threw asteroids onto the turians' colonies. The salarian wringed his hands together; Mayn didn't think this through at all.

The Loading Bay doors opened, and Mayn sighed in relief. He turned to greet his brother, but froze in fear at the sight of the Eclipse insignia on the two visitors. The krogan and turian stood between him and the door.

"How long did you think you could stay hidden from the Eclipse, Mayn?"

The salarian swallowed, thickly, and backed away from the asari and human. He recognized the blue asari with the red facial markings, anyone who valued their life knew about Captain Wasea, the head of the Eclipse faction in Illium. They also knew to stay away from her.

"Wasea, I—I can explain!" Mayn stumbled.

"Are we here to talk or are we here to fight?" the krogan grunted.

"Huh, look at that," the human that was with Wasea grinned, "A turian, a salarian, and a krogan. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke."

The human didn't look familiar—not that he would be able to tell them apart anyway; all humans looked the same to him—she was probably a new initiate, and according to the informational vids he saw about the humans, this one was fairly young. She would be referred to as a 'young adult' by human standards, an 'infant' by asari and krogan standards, a 'teenager' by turians and quarians, and a 'grandmother' by salarian standards.

But according to the same vids, white hair was usually the result of aging past sixty years, but he was rather sure about the human's age. Her hair didn't look fake enough to be 'dyed'. The scientific side of Mayn wanted to run tests on the odd human; the organic side of him wanted to escape with his life intact.

"The Eclipse are hiring humans now?" the turian spat, his mandibles clicking in amusement, "Go home, kid. I'd say to go back to your mommy and daddy, but I'm sure I killed them fourteen years ago," he laughed at his own joke, "Teach you humans from activating a derelict relay!"

The human grinned, taking a threatening step towards the turian, while clenching and unclenching her fists, "Oh, you're going to be fun to kill."

"Sawyer," Wasea growled, "Behave."

"Yes, ma'am," the human licked her lips, still grinning at the cocky alien, envisioning numerous ways of _exterminating _the turian, no doubt, "Whatever you say, ma'am."

"You can make this simple for yourself, Mayn," the asari started, "Tell us what you know and you walk. Don't, and you die."

"Y-You can't kill me," the salarian grasped at whatever straws he could, "You need the information."

"We need the information," Sawyer grinned, "but last I checked, your limbs don't speak," the human turned to Wasea, with unbridled glee, "Wasea, _per favore_1_."_

"Just don't kill him," Wasea, indifferently, waved her off.

"_Che peccato_2," the human sighed. She flicked her right wrist, and the metallic brace released two sharp blades extending past her fingertips. Her other hand reached over her shoulder to her battle-axe's hilt.

Mayn paled to a horrible yellow, "Stop her!"

The turian and krogan pulled out their guns, and Sawyer's grey eyes flashed to Wasea for a brief second, enough time for the asari to nod.

Sawyer licked her lips.

The krogan charged at her, and she sidestepped out of the way. A black-purple aura surrounded her, and in a flash, she was in front of the turian, the metal on metal impact echoed around the room; and the turian's rifle was cut to pieces by the blades in her brace. Within two salarian heartbeats, her axe was drawn and sliced halfway through the turian's neck. His blood sprayed, coating her newly-cleaned yellow armor in blue.

The human was a biotic. It all made sense. Why else would the Eclipse hire her if she couldn't create mass effect fields with her mind? And how else was she able to 'jump' across the room? Or how would she be able to get the axe halfway through a turian's thick and tough scales—or skin, Mayn wasn't sure what the exact term was? The revelation didn't help sate the salarian's fear, though.

The krogan turned and roared. He raised his shotgun, and prepared to fire. The salarian recognized the weapon as the M-300 Claymore. A one shot per round. Slow but a _very _powerful weapon.

Apparently the human was aware of that. She turned; her left leg covered in raw biotic power, and kicked the dead turian towards the krogan the same time the larger species fired. The turian fell, a large gaping hole formed in his stomach from the Claymore.

The krogan bodyguard reloaded, and Sawyer took advantage of the three seconds it took to replace the thermal clip. She biotically charged, and appeared behind the krogan. He dropped to his knee, coughing up blood. Sawyer smirked, dropping a large orange slimy organ on the ground beside her feet.

"You're next, _lucertola_1," the human drawled, twirling her battle-axe in her hand.

Wasea shook her head, and pinched the bridge of her nose to cover up her grin. It seems the human was a bit too smug, and it was about time she learned the hard way. The krogan stood, and faced the human's back. Sawyer got rid of one of his hearts, but he still had two more.

The krogan pulled out a dagger and growled. The human frowned and turned. Thick red fluid gushed. The krogan kept pushing the human until her back hit the wall, and the dagger was hilt deep into her left shoulder. His forearm pressed against her neck; her axe clanked on the ground.

The krogan bared its orange-tinted teeth in a feral grin as the blood gushed faster from her shoulder. Sawyer choked; her vision blurred, and her limbs numbed. Despite the pain and lack of oxygen in her lungs, she still managed a small sardonic—tight-lipped—smile.

A shot sounded behind the krogan, and his attention was split between the asari with his shotgun and the asphyxiating human. The krogan turned his head to see around his hump, and the human focused her biotics into the blades from her brace. The back of her neck—her biotic amp—started burning from overuse, and blood dripped from her nose. She raised her right arm, and with all the strength she had left, stabbed the biotic-coated blades into the krogan's thick skull. She released the biotic energy from her blades, and the alien's head exploded.

The human dropped to her knees, coughing from the lack of oxygen and the krogan's innards in her mouth. A yellow-black-and-blue figure knelt by her, glowering. The asari held the dagger by the hilt, and Sawyer hissed.

"Pathetic," Wasea said before pulling the dagger in one swift move. Sawyer cried out, clutching at the gushing wound.

"If you pass out, I'm leaving you behind," Wasea stood, cleaning the dagger before pocketing it.

"_Avere fede in me_1, Cap," Sawyer chuckled despite the pain, "They're dead, and I assume you got the information from the _lucertola_ before blowing a hole through him?"

"Faith is trust you have for something that doesn't exist," Wasea said, her back to the human, "You do. Get your shoulder patched up. We're heading for Omega."

* * *

1 "What's that?" = Italian

1 "Please" = Italian

2 "What a pity" = Italian

1 "Lizard" = Italian

1 "Have some faith in me" = Italian


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Thank you for all the favorites and follows. As a proper thank-you, I'm uploading two chapters instead of one. :) Let me know what you think.**_

* * *

**Hackett:**

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station_

_December 21__st__, 2171—Earth Standard _

Tears prickled in the back of her eyes, and she clutched tightly to the back of her brother's checkered shirt—her signature video-camera dangling from her wrist—in a vain attempt to protect herself and stop him from overreacting. One of the older boys shoved her brother, making her twin stumble backwards, and her to fall on the ground, landing awkwardly on her wrist, and cracking the lens.

"Leave us alone!" her brother wailed, angrily.

"Aw, look at that," one of the older boys mocked, "Little Po is going to cry."

"Am not!" her brother rubbed his forearm over his eyes, "And it's Apollo!"

She started sniffling; the combination of the bullies' words, the pain in her wrist, and the sight of her broken camera was too much to bear. She hugged her wrist to her chest, blinking away her tears. She dared to look back up, and gasped at the sight of her brother lifted in the air by the back of his shirt. The older boys laughed as her brother flailed about trying to land a hit, but his limbs were too small to reach.

_Plunk!_

With a yelp, the boy let go of her brother, and clutched at the side of his head.

_Plunk!_

She saw a marble hit another boy square between the eyes, and he landed on the ground with a thud. She turned on her camera, and pointed it to where she saw the marble fly from and a smile broke free from her tear-streaked face.

"Sky!"

The elder girl was ready to throw another marble, when she heard her little sister call. Sky turned to her, and grinned; raising two fingers as a makeshift salute while the other three were clutched around the marble.

The first boy that Sky struck advanced, and she quickly chucked the marble, and cheered loudly when it hit his abdomen, forcing the boy to double over.

"Come on, Artie," Sky called, and then added as an afterthought, "and Po!"

Artemis scrambled to her feet and rushed to her older sister, wrapping her good arm around her waist, and burying her tear streaked face in Skylar's abdomen. If Skylar was worried about staining her military uniform, she didn't show it. Instead she patted Artie's dark brown hair.

"What?" Sky grinned at Po, "No hug for big sis?"

Apollo crossed his arms while Sky extended her other arm to him. She grinned as she saw his will waver. Eventually, he relented and wrapped his short arms around both his sisters.

"Much better," she smiled, hugging her siblings tighter, "So, I see you've been making new friends while I was gone. Good for you."

"They're not friends," Po grumbled.

"They were being mean," Artie added in her soft, high-pitched voice, and Sky fought the urge to cuddle her silly.

"They were? Well, we can't have that, can we?" Both Po and Artie looked up in time to see their sister send a wink their way, before letting them go, and turning to the recovering bullies.

"So I hear you've been messing with the twins," Sky glared, cracking her knuckles in time with every step as she approached them.

"Get lost, bitch," he glared back, rubbing the red spot between his eyes.

"Language," she _tsk'ed_, "We have kids around."

"We're not kids," Po stomped his foot, "We're twelve!"

Artie buried her face into her brother's shirt, and clamped her eyes shut in a vain attempt to shut out the grunts and groans of pain coming from the older boys, but kept the camera rolling. Suddenly, she felt arms snake around her waist and lift her a few inches off the ground. Artie shrieked.

"Easy there, Artie," Sky laughed, placing her sister back on the ground, "It's just me."

Artie tightened her arms around Sky's waist, and winced. Sky lightly grabbed Artie's hand, and the little one tried to jerk her hand away, but froze when Skylar clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"Why didn't you tell me you hurt your wrist? And the camera's cracked?"

Artie looked away from her sister's worried gaze, as the tears welled up, and she hated herself for crying in front of her big sister again. Especially after Artie promised her sister that she would be stronger when Sky first left for the Alliance Military Academy.

"Hey, c'mon," Sky cooed, "We'll get it fixed up. We don't even have to tell Dad about it," she turned to Apollo, "Right, Po? We won't tell dad."

Po shook his head.

* * *

Calleigh Frayser couldn't believe her ears. Skylar was home. And as usual no one thought to let Calleigh—her best friend—know, well no one except for Dr. Amanda Kenson—the Hackett family's impromptu caretaker. Calleigh did the only thing she could do in that dire situation; she grabbed her shoes, and stomped over to the Hackett's.

She raised a fist to pound on the door, but it opened, and a one Dr. Amanda Kenson smiled warmly at the flabbergasted teen.

"Hi, Calleigh," Dr. Kenson said, "Would you like to come in?"

The blonde teen quickly clasped her hands behind her back, smiling confidently, but blushing horribly, "Morning, Dr. Kenson. How are you?"

The greying doctor crossed her arms, grinning, "Calleigh, enough small talk. Go on in, Sky is waiting for you in the twins' room."

Calleigh rushed into the house, throwing a quick thank-you over her shoulder. The closer she got to the room, the better she could hear Artie's laughter, and the familiar _thunk _of wood-on-wood. Cal smiled, swiping her hand over the glowing green interface, the door slid open.

Apollo was on the ground, pouting; one of Sky's wooden swords pointed at his neck, while the other was lazily balanced on her shoulders. Sky grinned, and started poking her brother in the stomach with the sword, eliciting a sorry attempt of repressed laughter.

"Dead, dead, dead, dead," Sky said in time with her pokes, "And dead. I win."

"No fair," Apollo laughed, covering up his sides, "You cheated!"

His teenage sister fake-gasped, "Me? Cheat? Oh, no, no, no, Po. Skylar Dakota Hackett does not cheat!" she knelt down to him, and poked his chubby cheek with her finger, "You just suck."

Cal crossed her arms, and smiled softly, her hazel eyes roving Sky's figure. The Military Academy did wonders for Sky, not that she wasn't athletic before, but now she packed muscle. It took a lot of effort to keep her eyes away from Sky's long legs, shapely hips, and long dark brown wavy tresses. She briefly wondered if they felt as soft as they looked.

A tug at her skirt forced the teen out of her reverie, and to look down at the smug stare of little Artie's camera. The teenager hoped that Artie didn't tape Cal checking out Sky, and the blonde-haired teen briefly entertained the thought of _borrowing _the camera and deleting the last five minutes of it. But instead Cal smiled, and hugged the twelve-year-old. The brunette wrapped her little arms around the teen's hips.

"Hi, Calleigh," little Artie beamed.

"Hey, Artie," Calleigh smiled, "How's my favorite Hackett doing?"

"I thought I was your favorite."

Calleigh smiled at the elder sister's attempt to be serious, and crestfallen.

"You're a close second," Cal blushed.

Sky grinned, her warm honey-colored eyes twinkling with amusement, "What? Seriously? Fine, do I at least get a hug?"

Cal smiled, and turned her back to her best friend with a giggling Artie following close behind.

"Oh come on!" Sky trailed behind her, "I haven't seen you in forever!"

The door closed behind them, and Po blinked twice.


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: As promised :)_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Gozu District_

_March 7__th__, 2172—Earth Standard _

Massani was pissed.

When he and Santiago first founded the Blue Suns, they agreed that Santiago would deal with the finances while Massani dealt with the manpower. Among the other things they agreed upon—and one of the most important—was that neither founder would make any decisions regarding the Blue Suns without consulting and getting the approval from the other.

Needless to say that Vido Santiago ignored Massani completely. First it started out small, like switching the food rations to the cheaper version—Massani approved the switch, but he never found out about it until he received his meal. After that Santiago had the gall to hire batarians as "cheap labor" even after Massani vehemently disagreed with his decision, calling the hirelings "goddamn terrorists." That didn't stop Santiago.

That never stopped Santiago.

Somehow, someway, Santiago managed to piss off every major merc band on Omega and the worm, acting all high and mighty, developed an alliance with the Eclipse band. Again, without Massani's knowledge or consent.

It wasn't until the Alliance veteran walked into the Gozu District—the Blue Sun's major territory—and found at least fifteen people in distinct yellow-black armor conversing with his team. Massani did what he did best. He pulled out Jesse, and yelled at the top of his lungs:

"What the fuck is going on here?"

The group divided, allowing a space in the middle for Santiago and an asari to pass between them. Santiago was smug, heavily fortified under the Blue Suns armor in addition to the orange holographic glow of his _Tech Armor_ he activated over it. Massani narrowed his eyes.

"Relax, Zaeed," Santiago held up his hands to pacify his partner, "This is a wonderful time in the Blue Suns brief history."

"Letting the enemy into our Headquarters is a 'wonderful time in our brief history?'" Massani spat, "That's goddamn retarded, Vido."

"They're not our enemies, Zaeed," Santiago smiled, "They are our allies."

"Bullshit!" Massani roared, "They sabotaged our shipments and blew up our _entire goddamn weapons' cache_!"

A snort sounded from the crowd, "That was fun."

All heads turned to the human teenager in Eclipse armor. She couldn't have been older than Shepard—older than eighteen—but she still looked vaguely familiar, and Massani raked his mind trying to remember. Everything about her from her darkened skin to her grey eyes, her slight accent, hell, even her height was familiar, but still he couldn't remember her. He pointed his gun at her.

"Who the hell are you?"

She smirked, "Sawyer. _E chi vorresti essere?"_1

"You blew up our weapons' cache."

"Was that a question or a statement, _messere?"_2

His eyebrow twitched.

"Zaeed," Santiago patted his partner's shoulder, "This is a good thing for the Blue Suns, and you know it. With the Blood Pack and the Talons trying to take this territory back, Shepard figured it would be a good idea to call the Eclipse for help."

"Leo?" He turned to search for the redheaded teen in the crowd. Luckily for him, no one in the entire room had red hair, and Shepard stood out like a sore thumb. Jade met viridian, and she nodded once.

"Jona Sederis and I were talking about hitting the Talons first," Santiago continued, a friendly smile directed to the Eclipse leader next to him, "Teach the turians to mess with us. Then we go up against the Blood Pack."

"Why don't we hit the Blood Pack first?"

The Sawyer character strode up to the Blue Suns and Eclipse leaders, completely ignoring the asari with red facial-markings' warning behind her.

"Let the grown-ups handle this one," Sederis said, waving the nuisance away.

Sawyer held up her hands and started to walk back, but Shepard stepped up, sparing Sawyer a glance before facing the leaders of the Blue Suns and Eclipse.

"No," Shepard frowned, coming up to stand by Massani, "Blood Pack first. Talons last."

Santiago turned to the little tech expert, "Listen, Shepard. We already made a foolproof plan to hit the Talons, we don't need you to do anything but hit them."

"We're just saying, getting the Blood Pack first is _benefico_1," Sawyer interrupted with a crooked grin.

Shepard nodded, studying the Eclipse merc carefully, "Psychologically."

Sawyer grinned at Shepard, "_Bene_2. Get the stronger ones out first—"

"Weak fall next."

"Eloquently put, Shepard."

Santiago and Sederis exchanged a look, and the asari with the red facial-markings spoke up, "I think the vermin is onto something, ma'am."

Sederis hummed, sauntering over to the Eclipse human. The asari ran the back of her hand over the human's scarred cheek, "And what do you suggest we do to the Blood Pack…Sawyer, was it?"

Massani had to hand it to the kid for holding her ground under Sederis' predatory gaze. She was shaking, minutely, but despite that she still held eye contact with the Eclipse founder.

"Message," Shepard spoke up, knocking the asari and human out of their 'moment'. Sederis grinned, and leaned in to whisper into Sawyer's ear. The human blushed, and Massani could've sworn he heard her gulp.

"Elaborate, Shepard," Santiago glared.

"We send a message to the Blood Pack," Sawyer coughed, clearing her voice, and saving Shepard from explaining, "Either we blow up one of their _affari_3 or we take out one of their higher-ups and leave the body somewhere they could easily find."

"They have a base of operations in the Kenzo District," Sederis smiled, "I'm sure it would be a beautiful sight to see that place go up in flames."

"Sounds better than whatever suicide run you cooked up, Vido," Massani grunted, "I volunteer to go."

"You didn't even know the plan we had, Zaeed."

"My point exactly."

Santiago sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Shepard, go with him."

The redheaded teen nodded once.

"Wasea, take this _Sawyer_ with you and assist the Blue Suns," Sederis mused, running her fingers through the human's white hair.

"Yes, ma'am," the asari turned to Sawyer, "Let's go, vermin."

* * *

1 "And who would you be?" = Italian

2 "Sir" = Italian

1 "Beneficial" = Italian

2 "Right" or "Good" = Italian

3 "Businesses" = Italian


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: I bring to thee the comic relief. Enjoy_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station_

_May 4__th__, 2172—Earth Standard _

Sky rushed by Po with curlers in her hair. He backtracked completely confused. The door shut behind her, and he shook his head, flabbergasted. He had an inkling that the curlers belonged to Manda, because he had never seen them when he was raiding Sky's room. He turned on the television, and the door opened. Sky, once again, rushed in front of him this time with shoe polish in her hand, and her hair curled.

A few minutes later, Sky walked back out again, dressed in an ironed blue blazer over a white V-neck cotton shirt, and her nice pair of jeans. Not to mention that if Po looked carefully, he could see his reflection on her polished shoes.

"I'm going out with Cal," Sky told him, dusting her blazer from invisible lint, "Be nice to Artie, okay?"

Po waved her away.

* * *

An hour later, Po was bored. His father was away on tour, Manda was busy at Arcturus University, Artie was tinkering with her new camera, and Sky was hanging out with Calleigh. And to make matters worse, his gaming console crashed.

He sighed, flipping through the channels. He stopped when he saw his older sister's favorite show, and tilted his head. The outfit the actress was wearing to her date strongly resembled the outfit Sky wore when she left the house half an hour ago. He frowned, the wheels in his head turning.

Hi eyes widened and he ran to his shared bedroom, stumbling on the way.

"Artie! Artie!"

Artemis looked up from her video camera just in time to see Po fall face first onto the ground. She giggled at his dumbfounded expression, and pointed the camera at him, recording. He rubbed his sore nose and jumped up to his sister's bed.

"I can't believe I missed this," Artie commentated, "But anyway, this is the aftermath of Apollo falling face-first onto the ground. He isn't the most interesting species out there, but he is a good comic relief, as we will no doubt see now."

"Artie! Artie!" He said with every bounce.

"Yes?" She giggled, still recording.

"Sky is on a date! With_ Calleigh!" _

"So?"

"So?" Apollo blinked, "You knew!"

"Of course I knew," she smiled, "Sky tells me everything."

"But, but, but _Calleigh…_"

Artie patted her brother's slumped back, "It's okay, Po. Sky and Cal are both big girls now."

Apollo suddenly jumped from the bed, "Let's go spy on them!"

Artie blinked, lowering the camera, and gave him a blank stare, "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I respect her. She wouldn't want me to spy while she's on her date."

He returned her look, "She'll spy on yours. You do know that, right?"

He was fairly certain of his sneaking ability. When they were younger, Apollo was the only one that could sneak up on Sky, nobody else could, and he took pride in his ability. He was confident he could sneak up to her now. However he didn't count Artie and her camera into the equation.

"Can you be quiet?" he hissed once her shoe squeaked for the eleventh time.

Twelfth.

"Not my fault," Artie whispered, annoyed, trying to record everything around her while still being sneaky.

Thirteenth.

"Shh. There they are."

There were a million and one places Skylar could've picked for her date with Calleigh, but never would he have thought his sister would take her date to the shooting range. She never took him and now she was with Calleigh. He felt two parts jealous, and one part betrayed.

"Aww," Artie cooed, quietly, zooming in on the couple, "They're so cute! Look, Po, they're blushing!"

Now that she mentioned it, Sky's face did look redder than usual.

She was standing behind Cal, guiding her on how to hold a sniper rifle properly. Sky didn't let go even after Cal took a few shots, and hit all the targets. The blonde turned her head, and planted a small kiss on his older sister's cheek. Sky beamed, her face camouflaging the bright red lipstick stain Cal left.

Po was sick.

"They're so cute together," Artie grinned, "Aren't they cute, Po?"

Po stayed silent.

Cal bit her bottom lip, and tried to rub the stain off, but Sky took hold of her hand and interlocked their fingers together. The brunette's other hand lifted Cal's head. Sky leaned it—

"Po, Po!" Artie grabbed onto his sleeve and started shaking him, "They're going to kiss! They're going to kiss!"

Po gagged.

* * *

Artie let out another dreamy sigh, and Po winced.

"Can you believe it, Po?" she sighed, throwing herself onto the couch next to her brother, and replaying the scene with her camera, "Sky and Cal are dating!"

"Unbelievable," Po grumbled.

Artie tilted her head, "Are you okay?"

"Just fine."

She leaned back, "Are you upset that Sky and Cal are dating?"

"Shut up."

"You are! Is it because," she smirked, "you _like_ Calleigh?"

"Do not!" he blushed, "Shut up!"

The door opened, and Artie, dumping her camera on the coffee table, dashed to the front door. Po sunk deeper into the couch.

"Hey, kiddies—ooff," Sky chuckled, "It's good to see you, too, Artie."

"How was the date?"

Sky walked into the living room with Artie on her back. Sky's dark brown hair was messier than usual, and her clothes were just a tad wrinkled. She also had the remnants of bright red lipstick on her lips. His sister doesn't wear lipstick.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Sky teased, "Hey, Po-Po. How's it going?"

Po shrugged.

"Is he okay?" Sky frowned, placing her sister back on the ground.

"He's jealous," Artie giggled.

"Shut up!" Po jumped from the couch, and started chasing his giggling twin sister around the house.

Sky scratched the back of her head.


	8. Chapter 8

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Docking Bay_

_May 24__th__, 2172—Earth Standard _

Despite her line of work, Wasea despised slavers. She never voiced her opinion on the subject, and everyone knew better than to ask her. Therefore when Sederis asked her to postpone their assault on the Blood Pack momentarily and raid the slavers' base of operations here on Omega with Massani, Shepard and Sawyer, Wasea all but jumped at the opportunity. What she hadn't counted on was how deep Sawyer's hatred for slavers ran.

_Their plan of attack was simple enough. Shepard had been given a rifle and a vantage point to pick the slavers off one by one, while the rest went up close and personal. _

"_Let's go get these goddamn slavers," Massani had grinned._

_Sawyer had stiffened, "You didn't tell me they were _negrieri1_, Wasea."_

"_Does it matter?" he grunted. _

"_We have a plan, vermin," Wasea had started, staring the younger human down, "Don't screw it up."_

Thinking back on it, Wasea couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine from the look Sawyer had given her. It was a mix of betrayal, anger, hatred and a pinch of fear.

She'd heard about the Batarian Raid on Mindoir, almost every species had. It was the largest recorded slaver raid in the history of the galaxy, and she also knew that Sawyer was the only known survivor.

She should've seen these signs earlier, and Wasea hated herself for ignoring them. Sawyer's unpredictable mood swings, the insatiable need for bloodshed—especially batarian blood—and the sarcastic defense mechanism. The signs were all there, and Wasea ignored them all.

_The moment Shepard had given the okay, Sawyer broke down the doors and started slicing everything that moved inside—batarian, turian, krogan, salarian, asari, even human, it didn't matter who so long as they had some kind of weapon on their person. _

"_Moving ahead," Shepard's clipped tone had sounded through their comm., "More inside."_

"_Roger that, Leo," Massani forced out._

_Wasea and the Blue Suns co-founder had exchanged an almost fearful look with each other, before turning back to the rampaging human biotic. _

"_What bio-amp does that one have?" Massani had asked._

"_L-2," Wasea had replied, watching a batarian being thrown halfway across the room, "I think."_

"_Wasn't that discontinued because of its side-effects? Uh—"_

"_Mental instability, crippling pain, hallucinations, and insanity," Wasea recited then snorted, "That's the very definition of Sawyer Cavaliere."_

"_Problem," Shepard had interrupted, "Hostage. Human. Female. Sixteen years. Maybe. No clear shot."_

"_Shit."_

_Wasea couldn't have phrased it better herself._

"_Wait. Wants compromise. We leave, let girl go," Shepard paused, "Lying."_

_Sawyer let out an angry roar, and pushed away the remaining slavers with the largest biotic blast Wasea had ever seen. The white-haired human ran through the doors, and the senior members of the Eclipse and Blue Suns followed behind._

_A lone batarian had stood amidst his companions' bodies, using a little girl as a meat shield. He pressed the dagger to her neck._

_Sawyer had started shaking with unbridled fury, and Wasea had to physically hold on to her so she wouldn't do anything rash. The human was growling, and Wasea secretly admired her restraint; knowing that Sawyer could toss her about like a rag doll if she wanted to, despite the asari's proficiency with her own biotics. _

_The young girl couldn't have been older than a child, and Wasea felt sick to her stomach just thinking about others like that child who weren't as lucky. She noticed the child kept her violet eyes trained on Sawyer, and vice versa._

_Suddenly, the child threw her head back, connecting with the batarian's chin, he loosened his grip on her, and she stumbled out of his reach. The sound of Shepard's rifle echoed in the small room._

_The little girl ran into Sawyer's open arms. _

"_Marian…" the child had whispered, tightening her hold on Sawyer's bloodstained armor._

"Mi dispiace_,2__" Sawyer had muttered, running her fingers through the girl's light brown hair, "Of all the places…Gods. How?"_

"_Batarians," the child sniffled, "Mom, dad, everyone…they—"_

"_Hey, hey," Sawyer shushed, "It's okay. You're safe now, Will. You're safe. I promise."_

* * *

"Wasea?" Sederis snapped her fingers in front of the slightly younger asari, knocking her out of her reverie.

"Sorry, ma'am," Wasea stiffened, "Won't happen again."

"You still didn't answer my question," Sederis circled the other asari, reinforcing her role as the predator.

"Your question, ma'am?"

Sederis clicked her tongue, and whispered into Wasea's ear, "What do you think of Sawyer leading her own squad?"

Wasea stayed silent.

Sawyer was—arguably—the best _enforcer _the Eclipse band had. Giving Sawyer her own squad could be both beneficial for the Eclipse and dangerous, depending on her temperamental loyalty.

"Well…?"

"Honoring Sawyer with her own squad could be…problematic. Ma'am," Wasea started, "We don't know where her loyalties are, and the risk is too great."

"Hmm," she mused, "But if she stayed loyal, she could be a dangerous ally."

"Y-yes, ma'am."

Sederis grinned, "And should she…_deviate _from our plans…Well, we have a way of dealing with traitors. Don't we, Wasea?"

An image of Sederis' sister's severed head briefly flashed behind Wasea's eyelids, and she swallowed thickly, "Yes, ma'am."

"So we reached an agreement," the older asari licked her lips in glee, "Go, give Sawyer the good news."

Wasea prayed to the Goddess Athame that Sawyer would refuse the promotion, but knew deep down that Sawyer's pride wouldn't let her.

Instead, she prayed for the human's forsaken soul.

* * *

1 "Slavers" = Italian

2 "I'm sorry" = Italian


	9. Chapter 9

**_AN: Please leave a review, otherwise I wouldn't know what to improve._**

* * *

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station_

_June 3__rd__, 2172—Earth Standard _

Admiral Steven Hackett was scared.

He was the most decorated officer in the Alliance Navy; if he melted his medals he could make a pure gold statue of himself, twice his size. He rose to the rank of an Admiral in record time. He—fearlessly—fought the turians in the First Contact War in 2157—or as the Council races call it: the Relay 314 Incident.

But sitting down in the waiting room with his daughter fighting death in an operating room, Admiral Hackett felt downright useless.

And terrified.

He should've kept a closer eye on his daughter. Should've kept her away from the starships. Dozens of people lost their loved ones in that explosion, and Hackett couldn't help feeling that he was next.

A soft tug on his sleeve brought his attention to his son next to him. His big tearful honey-colored eyes staring up to Hackett's own cold blue. He couldn't help but be reminded of his late wife. Apollo and Skylar were the only two who had his wife's eyes. Hackett quickly turned his gaze to Apollo's forehead instead.

"Is she going to be alright, dad?"

In the navy, Hackett developed the habit of being blunt and truthful; to speak from the gut and damn the consequences. His crew appreciated that quality in him, and it also helped that the same quality also saved their lives more times than any of them could count.

But at that moment, Hackett wasn't in the navy. He was in the hospital waiting room. At that moment, he wasn't Admiral Steven Hackett, the First Contact War veteran and hero. At that moment, he was Steve Hackett, single-parent of three with the youngest on the brink of death.

Being blunt and honest served him well in the Alliance, but being blunt and honest wasn't going to serve him well with his son.

"She'll be fine, son," Hackett said, placing a calloused hand on Apollo's shoulder, "Your sister is tough."

"You said the same thing about mom," Skylar scoffed, her hands clutched around Artie's video camera, "And look how well that turned out."

"Skylar!" Dr. Amanda Kenson scolded.

The Frayser girl placed a hand on Skylar's shoulder, and whispered something that Hackett's trained ears couldn't pick up. His eldest shrugged her off and stormed to the corner of the room. The Frayser girl, Calleigh, excused herself and followed his daughter.

Skylar whispered animatedly, and Calleigh pulled her closer, letting the distraught teen rest her head on Calleigh's shoulder. The blonde ran her fingers through his daughter's brown hair, while the brunette's shoulders wracked with sobs.

Hackett resisted a sigh, and instead sat up in his seat. Amanda smiled, sympathetically.

The doors opened, and a surgeon walked out with a nurse, their aprons splattered with red blood. Hackett swallowed thickly.

"Admiral Hackett?" the surgeon said, and Hackett stood up out of habit.

"How is my daughter, doctor?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the surgeon sighed, and Hackett saw his eldest approach from the corner of his eye, "She lost a lot of blood, more than we can replace. Normally, we would give her synthetic blood for a transfusion, but the high dosage of Element Zero in her system from the explosion is rejecting it. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of real blood in the hospital, especially not her type. Unless one of you have type O negative, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for her."

"Her mother," Amanda muttered, "She was the only one with type O. She—she passed two years ago."

He heard his son let out a choked sob behind him.

"Again, I'm sorry. If you would like to say your final goodbyes—"

"I'm type O negative."

The determined look on his daughter's face dared anyone to challenge her statement. Hackett had no doubt in his mind that she would attempt to _change _her blood type if she had to.

A quick scan from the surgeon's omni-tool supported her statement. But he frowned at the orange holographic interface on his forearm.

"Were you anywhere near the ship?"

"Yes," Skylar nodded, "I went in to get Artie out. Why?"

"According to my scans there appears to be some eezo—sorry Element Zero—in your system. Probably from the ship's drive core," he shut off his omni-tool, "With the high dose of eezo in your sister's blood, using your tainted blood could kill her."

"And if I don't give her my blood, she's already dead," Skylar argued, her fists clenched.

The surgeon studied Hackett's eldest before reaching his decision. He nodded to his nurse, "Get her prepped."

The nurse and his daughter walked through the doors, with the surgeon following behind them.

* * *

Hours passed, and there was still no word about Artemis' wellbeing or lack thereof, and Hackett was getting restless, but years in the military taught him to school his expression. Anyone looking on would think Admiral Hackett was uninterested.

But Amanda could read him like an open book.

She spared a glance at a worried Calleigh with a sniffling Po cuddled up to her. Calleigh was whispering—probably nonsense—in Po's ear to distract him. Amanda admired Cal's strength—knowing that Artie was like a sister to her too—and prayed that one day Steve could be like that around his children, and not like an awkward uncle.

"Steve?" Amanda tried, and his focused cold blue eyes shot to her.

"Am I a bad father?" he started, "Be honest, Manda."

Amanda Kenson knew Steven Hackett from their preschool days. The moment they shared a pudding cup during recess, they were inseparable. And in middle school, Steve hired himself as Amanda's bodyguard from the pubescent bullies. Even in high school when he developed a love for sports and her for the sciences, they managed to shoulder through the great divide and remained good friends throughout. It wasn't until their high school graduation that they were separated when Steve enlisted in the Navy and Amanda went to Arcturus University.

They haven't seen nor heard of each other for a long time; the only time that Amanda heard about Steven was through the news, especially during the war in 2157. It was ten years ago when they saw each other again on Arcturus Station. Steven had been promoted to Admiral, and the twins were barely toddlers while Amanda was a professor at Arcturus University. In a matter of hours they were able to rekindle their friendship, and it didn't take long for Steven's wife, Penelope—bless her soul—to accept Amanda as part of the family.

She always knew him to be fearless, from the day they met until now; she had only seen Steven scared once before. It was two years ago when the Alliance sent him news that Penelope was K.I.A.—killed in action—on Mindoir.

Steven was broken up, and he dealt with his grief the only he knew how. He pushed himself into work, and spent less and less time at home with his children. That left Amanda as an impromptu caretaker. She had to admit that without Sky's help—and Sky's ability to memorize everything Artie was allergic to—Amanda wouldn't have been able to take care of them. Which was probably why Amanda took it the hardest when Sky announced that she was planning to attend a military academy in the Sol system—hundreds of light-years away. Sometimes it annoyed her how similar Sky and Steven were, but most of the time it amused her.

Amanda opened her mouth to answer, but the door opened and the surgeon walked back out, a grin on his face. Amanda could feel relief oozing out of everyone around her, herself included.

"I have good news," the grinning surgeon started, "The transfusion and surgery were a success. Matter of fact, Artemis is sleeping right now, if you want to see her. Though your other daughter, Skylar, she's a bit woozy from blood loss. She'll be fine too, a bit delusional. But fine."

"Thank you, doctor," Amanda breathed.

"Wait, Sky's delusional?"

Everyone gave Cal a confused look, and she met their stare.

"Okay," Cal started, "How many times have any of you seen Sky not in complete control? This is like a once in a lifetime thing!"

The surgeon smiled, "She's in the room with her sister if you'd like to see her. Though I must warn you, she did mention something about putting a cat in a peanut butter jar."

"She still has Artie's camera right?" Cal grinned when the surgeon nodded, "Perfect. C'mon, Po."

They started heading for the door, but the surgeon stopped Steven and Amanda. His smile was gone along with Cal and Po.

"There is also another matter regarding Artemis—"

"You said the surgery was a success," Steven interrupted.

"The surgery _was_ a success," the surgeon said, "but the eezo in her body caused other complications."

Amanda didn't like where this was going. The surgeon noticed the look on her face and quickly corrected himself.

"There aren't any terminal tumors," he said, "Or anything of that sort. But we did notice eezo nodules forming in her body. A sign of biotic potential. We would have to implant her with a bio-amp in the back of her neck to keep her biotics under check. Unfortunately the L-3 implants haven't been tested yet, and the L-2 was discontinued two years ago. In addition to the injuries that she sustained in the explosion, I wouldn't recommend for her to undergo the neural implant surgery until next year, at the least.

"Normally, we would send her off to BAaT—sorry, Biotics Acclimation and Temperance Training—but that was shut down after the truth about what Conatix did were revealed. Your next best bet is sending her off to Grissom Academy, the station orbiting Elysium in the Vetus system."

"Noted," Steven said, clasping his hands behind his back, "May I see her?"

"Oh, yes, of course," the surgeon said, "This way."


	10. Chapter 10

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Afterlife Club_

_June 24__th__, 2172—Earth Standard _

Anderson came to the conclusion that Omega was a multicultural dump.

Every space-faring species in the known galaxy resided there. Hell, a vorcha was sitting next to him at the bar, a batarian was serving him drinks, and he was sure he saw a krogan or two somewhere in the lower reaches of the club, not to mention a salarian watching an asari dancer—and here he thought that the salarians had no sex drive, go figure. He could've sworn he even spotted two or three quarians somewhere on the station; though it could be just one quarian—he couldn't tell them apart from the full body enviro-suit that they always wore.

He brought his neon purple drink up to his lips, and the glass broke. The purple fluid splashed onto the counter, and coated his hand, which started sizzling on impact. The vorcha on his right started gurgling and sizzling, too.

Anderson turned to the alien, and blinked. The poor—and hideous—creature had a hunting knife embedded in his throat. His red blood gushed out, and Anderson could see some of his drink burning away the tough skin.

With a start, Anderson jumped away, wiping his hand on the clean part of the counter before corrosive acid did more damage.

"There!"

At that moment, Anderson realized two very important pieces of fact. One, the bartender tried to poison him. And two, Omega wasn't a multicultural dump; it was a multicultural war waiting for a catalyst.

He turned behind him to where the knife originated. His dark brown eyes widened at the sight of five large, menacing krogan surrounding a little redheaded human girl in loose fitting blue armor.

He just found the catalyst.

The human activated her omni-tools—one on each arm—and released a powerful _overload _around her, overheating the krogans' weapons and rendering them useless.

Anderson was impressed at the child's skill, and fearlessness. But he was also fearful for her life, so he did what he thought any Alliance Navy officer would do when they were on shore leave.

Start a bar fight.

The navy officer swiped the bottle of Noverian Rum from an inebriated human and smashed it on the closest krogan's head. He didn't expect the broken bottle to severely hurt the krogan, and was only meant to grab his attention away from the small human.

Fortunately, Anderson's plan worked. Unfortunately, Anderson's plan worked. The giant beast turned on him, and growled. The krogan raised his arm, and a Japanese-style blade appeared out of his head. Stopping him in his tracks. The blade disappeared, and Anderson sidestepped the falling krogan.

A small, yet firm, pull on his forearm led him out of the Blood Pack infested club. They passed the elcor bouncer, and Anderson could hear heavy footsteps behind them, trying to catch up. The redhead ducked behind a corner, and pulled Anderson with her. She placed her finger to her lips as their followers ran by.

A few tense minutes past before Anderson visibly relaxed, confident that the Blood Pack weren't on their trail anymore. He turned to the girl.

"I guess I owe you a thank-you for saving my life."

She gave a one-shouldered shrug, "Wasn't intention. Only convenient. Poison kills faster. Can't regenerate health."

Anderson's brows furrowed. He spent over ten years in service with the Alliance, and he has never met a person this cold before. Well, he met _one, _and the bastard was dishonorably discharged for it.

"My name is David Anderson, Alliance Navy. What's your name, kid?"

She paused, "Shepard. Blue Suns engineer."

He hated seeing little kids in gangs, and it was obvious by the way she handled herself in the club that she was an experienced member of the Blue Suns. And experience was only achieved by years in service.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"How long have you been with the Blue Suns?"

Shepard paused, "Six years."

He blinked. She was twelve when she joined? To him, she looked to be twelve instead of eighteen.

"Where are your parents?"

She blinked, "Mother murdered. Father murderer."

His dark eyes softened. Anderson wasn't a psychologist, he was a soldier, but even he knew that there was something wrong with Shepard. Her green eyes were hollow, and her voice hinted at no emotions or anything. Everything about this Shepard girl was blank. Empty. Her tiny hands tugged at his heartstrings.

"I'm sorry,"—Shepard shrugged—"When did that—?"

"April 11, 2159."

A quick practice of his—almost never used—math ability, Anderson reached the conclusion that she would have been five years old.

"Good god…"

Shepard gave a one-shouldered shrug.

To witness the death of one's parent was never an easy thing to overcome, especially at such a young age. And especially if left untreated. That would explain Shepard's disposition.

Her right omni-tool started flashing, and she answered the call.

"Good work out there, kid," a very familiar gruff voice sounded through her omni-tool, "That goddamn vorcha's been causing too much trouble for his own good. Come back to base when you're ready. Got another job lined up with the Eclipse band. Massani out."

Massani…_Zaeed _Massani? Anderson remembered working with him in the Alliance, and he also remembered that he never liked him. Zaeed was ruthless in the Alliance, a results-at-all-costs kind of guy. Anderson lost count of how many civilians Zaeed 'unintentionally' killed during the mercenary's brief service to the Alliance.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he shot his arm out to stop the escaping redhead.

"Why choose the Blue Suns, Shepard?"

The green-eyed teenager stopped, "Purpose."

"If it's purpose you're looking for, there are much better alternatives out there. The galaxy's a big place, and the Alliance could use your skills. You'd be helping people instead of whatever it is Zaeed's making you do. He can't be trusted, and I speak from experience."

She blinked, and walked out.


	11. Chapter 11

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station_

_July 9__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

Artie was recovering nicely, and that brought a smile to Calleigh's face. She'd been worried and scared when she heard that the _SSV_ _Endurance_ blew up with Artie in it, and it scared her even more when she'd heard that Sky went in after her sister.

It's been over a month since the accident, and Sky couldn't bring herself to distance herself from her little sister. The poor preteen couldn't even go to the bathroom in peace. Cal could understand Sky's need to be constantly around Artie, mind you, Cal was an only child. But she could still understand. Sort of.

"This is what an annoying, overprotective sister looks like," Artie said, irritated, and pointed her camera at Sky, "She also doesn't understand what the phrase, 'I am fine' means!"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes!"

Sky pouted, "Okay…If you need anything, I'll be in the other room, 'kay?"

"I'm just going to go to sleep," Artie lowered her camera, the red light off.

Cal stifled a laugh, and led a reluctant Sky out of the twin's room, and into Sky's. The brunette slumped onto her desk chair, miserably, and Calleigh found that absolutely adorable.

"Why so down, Buttercup?"

Sky raised an eyebrow, "Buttercup?"

"Well," Cal tried to hide her excitement when Sky walked into her trap, "Remember when I told you about the old Earth cartoon, with the three kindergarten sisters saving their town?"

"The Powerpuff Girls?"

"Yeah!" the blonde grinned, "You seem more like a Buttercup to me, because she's all tough and beats everybody up. Well, it's not like you could be Bubbles or Blossom, anyway."

Sky frowned, "Why not?"

"Bubbles is too cheerful to be you, Ms. Mopey. And Blossom's smart," Cal stuck out her tongue, "So unlike you."

The brunette paused, and then "Hey!"

Calleigh laughed, and tapped Sky's nose, "Cheer up, Buttercup's not that bad."

"Yeah right," Sky snorted, "If I'm Buttercup, you'll have to be the Mayor."

"Ew, why?"

Sky grinned, "Because you're always calling me to help you open a jar of pickles."

Calleigh laughed, softly, "Hey, that only happened once, and I'm not the one with 'soldier-class implants' here," the blonde paused, "Wait, I thought you said you never watched the show."

Sky shrugged, "I had to know what marathon my girlfriend decided to cancel our date for. And honestly, the Powerpuff Girls, Cal? I thought I was important to you."

Calleigh smiled, and sat herself on her girlfriend's lap. Almost automatically the brunette wrapped her arms securely around the blonde's waist. Cal planted a small peck on Sky's forehead, "You are. That's why you're Buttercup."

"I feel _so _loved," Sky smirked, sarcastically.

Suddenly, a frown appeared on Sky's face, and she turned away from Cal, "Speaking of the soldier-class implants…" Sky started.

Cal tilted her head, wondering about the immediate shift in Sky's mood, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not going back to the Alliance Military Academy next year," the brunette hesitantly said, the blonde smiled, but it quickly disappeared when Sky finished her sentence, "I'm enlisting on my eighteenth birthday."

Cal stayed silent, and Sky looked up, an almost fearful look on her face.

"Cal, say something. Please."

The blonde tried to stand, but the grip around her waist tightened.

"Let go, Skylar," Calleigh's voice shook.

"Cal, please…"

"Don't 'Cal, please' me, Dakota!" the blonde spat, and the brunette flinched, "You promised that you weren't going to enlist! And _you_ said you never wanted to follow in your dad's footsteps!"

"Technically, dad's in the navy, and I'm planning on enlisting in the marines…" Sky trailed off when Calleigh's glare darkened, "But regardless that's not the point, and I'm going to shut up now."

Calleigh huffed, and pushed herself away from Sky, heading for the door. The brunette stood.

"Cal! Wait!"

Calleigh walked out.

* * *

_**A/N: Is it sad that I enjoyed writing this chapter...?**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**AN: Fair warning there is some talk about rape and domestic abuse, if this sort of thing bothers you, I'm sorry.**  
_

* * *

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station_

_July 13__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

Artie couldn't remember a time when she'd seen her sister so depressed. Even when their mother died, Sky put on a brave face and went through with her day. Now though, she was curled up on the couch, crying and watching the Powerpuff Girls. Sky didn't even like that show.

The preteen jumped on the occupied couch, and Sky groaned, hugging the cushion to her chest. Artie tilted her head, turning off her camera. There was a time and a place for everything, and Artie knew that wasn't the time to videotape Sky.

"What's wrong?"

Sky covered her face with the cushion and shook her head. Artie tried to pry it away before Sky suffocated herself.

"Is it because of Calleigh?"

The older sister groaned, and nodded.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Sky shook her head.

"Do you want me to call her over?"

The cushion was removed, and Sky's tear-filled eyes widened. She quickly shook her head, then stopped, and nodded instead.

Artie smiled, and patted her sister's head. The preteen stood from the couch and headed for the door, knowing that Cal wouldn't pick up the phone if they called because of the number of—embarrassing—messages Sky had left.

Luckily, Ms. Frayser opened the door when Artie knocked and let her in. The preteen briefly wondered whether Ms. Frayser would have let Sky in or not, but that thought quickly left her when she saw Cal curled up on her bed, hugging the life out of the poor stuffed duck, and watching Criminal Minds.

And here she thought that Calleigh couldn't stand the sight of blood. Real or not.

"Calleigh, honey," Ms. Frayser said, "You have a visitor."

The blonde looked up, her blue eyes glazed over with unshed tears. Calleigh faked a smile, and sat up on her bed while patting the spot beside her.

"Hey, Artie," Calleigh cleared her throat, "How are you feeling?"

Artie hopped onto the bed, and sat cross-legged.

"Sky's depressed."

"Oh," Calleigh looked back at the TV screen.

"She wouldn't tell me what happened," Artie continued, "But all she's been doing was watching the Powerpuff Girls. She doesn't like that show, but you do."

Cal stayed silent.

"And you don't like watching crime shows, but Sky does," the brunette paused, "Its either you two switched bodies, or you broke up."

"We didn't break up," Calleigh muttered.

"And you didn't switch bodies, otherwise Sky would be tickling me silly right about now," Artie stated, and Cal smiled, softly, "So, what happened?"

Cal shook her head, "Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Artie—" Cal sighed, exasperated.

"You can talk to me, you know," Artie whispered, placing her hand over Cal's, "I can see it's hurting you and Sky. Talking about it might help."

The blonde sighed, "Your sister is joining the Alliance."

Artie blinked, "And...that's bad, why?"

Calleigh wiped her eyes with a tissue, "My dad was an Alliance. He's in prison, now though. He served in the First Contact War alongside your father, only my dad was groundside most of the time. He…killed a lot of turians, and because of that got awarded medals for his 'heroic deeds.' It also messed with his head."

"Cal," Artie whispered; she had an inkling of where this conversation was going, "If you don't want—"

"No, no," Cal shook her head, "They said it was better if I talked to someone I trusted about it, and um," she cleared her throat, "When he came back home after the war, he wasn't the same. He got angry easily. At first it wasn't that bad, he'd yell, and call my mom and me names, but slowly it got worse, until he…started putting hands on mom. She tried to protect me as much as she can, but she couldn't, not forever. He…did things to me. And—"

Artie couldn't hear anymore, and wrapped her arms around Cal's neck, and let the older teen cry to her heart's content.

"I'm sorry, Cal," Artie sniffled, "I didn't know."

Calleigh didn't say anything, and Artie wasn't sure if she had heard her.

"Does Sky know?"

Artie felt Cal shake her head.

"She wasn't planning on enlisting," Artie whispered, "She happened to pass by a recruiting office and saw that Moreau kid—the one with the brittle bones—enlisting. She told me that if a crippled teenager was going to enlist to do his part in protecting humanity, then why shouldn't she? She already has the 'soldier-class' implants. She's stronger and faster than most humans. I'm sure if you talk to her, she'd understand. But I also know my sister, Cal. She'd never hurt you in that way."

"I know," Cal whispered, pulling away from the hug, "I _know_, but you can't just shake this off, Artie. Mom didn't expect war to change dad, and what's to say the same wouldn't happen to Sky?"

Artie grinned, "Well, Sky's a Hackett, and we're a stubborn bunch. On a serious note, give her a chance. If she hurts you, I'll kick her ass."

To emphasize her point, Artie lifted the stuffed duck a few inches in the air using her biotics, however she suddenly flinched, dropping the duck and giving herself a nosebleed. The preteen smiled, sheepishly, "I've got to work on that."

Cal smiled, pulling out a tissue, "Didn't the doctor tell you to wait 'til your implants came in? You're so impatient. You're such a Hackett," Cal stayed silent for a few seconds dabbing the bottom of Artie's nose, "So she's really watching the Powerpuff Girls?"

Artie grinned, "Yup, and curled up on the couch, hugging a cushion. It's a pretty sad sight actually. Wanna go see her? Might cheer you up."

Calleigh laughed, softly, "That doesn't sound so bad, actually. And Artie, thanks for listening, and being here."

"Well, I _am _your favorite Hackett."

* * *

Po, after hours upon hours of gameplay, finally beat his sister's high score. To anyone else, that would mean nothing, but to him it proved that he was better than Sky—at least in one field. He put down the game controller, and stretched his fingers while grinning widely at the High Score board on the screen.

The door opened, and Po turned, and waved Artie in.

"Artie, look," Po boasted, "I beat Sky's high score!"

Artie glanced at the screen through the lens of her camera for a second before pulling her brother up by his shirt. She led him to the door, and made him peek. His shoulders slumped at the sight of Cal and Sky embracing on the couch.

"I thought they broke up," Po whined.

"Nope," Artie grinned, "They just had an argument."

He frowned, "What does Sky have that I don't?"

She looked at him weirdly through the lens, "Really?"—he nodded—"Okay, for starters, she has height, and you don't. She's also older, so Cal wouldn't get in trouble with the law by dating her. And she's smarter. Did I mention she's taller?"

"You know what," he said, going back to the game console, "Forget I asked."


	13. Chapter 13

_**AN: Hiya! Here's another chapter for your enjoyment (though I'm not really sure I'd call it that considering what happens but...) I'm travelling tomorrow on a belated vacation, and there's a chance that I might not get a good internet connection, or one at all. BUT I will try to update regularly, though the timing might be off. Now I'm off to bed because it's six thirty in the morning and I still have to pack my bag. **_

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_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Eezo Mines_

_July 12__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

It was common knowledge that Wasea was extremely loyal to Sederis, more so than anybody else. However, no one knew whether Wasea's loyalty was founded on fear or respect. Sederis had an _interesting—_for lack of better term—way in dealing with traitors: execution being the most merciful, and the least common.

Wasea was loyal to Sederis and the Eclipse, and in her century long service she noticed a trend:

The higher the rank of the traitor, the more _extreme _their punishment was.

And Wasea liked her limbs where they were, thanks.

Despite what the common Eclipse soldier may think, Wasea never asked to be promoted to Captain. Don't get her wrong, she appreciated the higher pay-grade, but the other aspects of her job made her question her life decisions. For example, she now had to deal with traitors herself. Usually the Eclipse wouldn't have many traitors to deal with, and that, unintentionally, rendered that part of her job useless. However, after centuries of Sederis instilling enough fear into her recruits to keep them loyal, one human was immune. Wasea didn't know if Sederis was getting soft or Sawyer had a death wish.

"You just had to fight back, didn't you?" Sederis tsk'ed lifting Sawyer's battered, bruised, and bleeding face up. Sawyer glared, her left eye forced shut by the deep vertical cut over it. The human spat, leaving a mixture of saliva and blood on Sederis' cheek. Wasea winced as Sederis backhanded the defenseless human. The two Eclipse soldiers lifted her up by the arms.

Sawyer was laughing.

"That the best you could do, Sederis?" Sawyer panted, a large grin on her face, "I thought you were supposed to be the best. My grandmother can hit harder than that, and she's paralyzed!"

Wasea concluded that Sederis wasn't going soft; Sawyer was just bat-shit crazy.

Sederis grinned back, "There's the reason why I liked you, Sawyer. You never bowed down to anyone. Not even me. You don't understand how annoying and refreshing that is. I really don't want to kill you, but an example needs to be made," Sederis leaned in, "No one stabs me in the back."

"Then you got the wrong person," Sawyer drawled, "I didn't betray you."

"Yet," Sederis continued.

The crazy grin made its reappearance on Sawyer's face, "You're killing me on a hunch? That desperate for a semblance of power, that you'd have your favorite human punished?"

"You're the only human," Wasea said, and Sawyer blinked, as if just now realizing that Wasea was in the room.

"I'm not killing you on a hunch," Sederis grinned, "I'm killing you on an observation," at Sawyer's confused look, she continued, "You might be unstable, but your sense of loyalty is _noted, _and misplaced. Santiago killed Massani, and the Blue Suns are eradicating anyone who might still be loyal to him. And they're after little Shepard as we speak. With Santiago in charge of the Blue Suns, our alliance will grow stronger, and I won't have your petty revenge get in the way. So, you have to die."

Sawyer grinned, "The Blue Suns are after Shepard? Right now?" Sawyer threw her head back in laughter, "No one can take down Shepard! No one can _find _Shepard if she doesn't want to be found!"

"Doesn't matter," Sederis said, pulling out her Claymore, "It was nice knowing you, Sawyer. And don't worry, your little team will follow you shortly."

Sawyer froze, and death itself made its appearance on her face, "Touch them, Sederis, and so help me…"

Sederis grinned, "You'll what? You're dead, Sawyer. You can't do anything."

The older asari leveled the Claymore to the human's forehead.

"Wait!" Sawyer said, and Sederis sighed annoyed.

"What?"

"Do I get a last request?"

Sederis narrowed her eyes, "It depends."

Sawyer grinned that wild grin of hers, "I want Wasea to pull the trigger."

Everyone in the room froze, and the grin on Sawyer's face grew. Sederis turned to Wasea, and smiled.

"The teacher killing her student," Sederis mused, "That would make an interesting story. Don't you think?"

Wasea swallowed thickly, and slowly nodded. She knew, just as every Eclipse soldier who served closely with Sederis, that once she got an idea in her mind it was usually impossible to dissuade her from it. The safest and easiest solution was to go along with it.

If only Sederis' sister learned that earlier…

Sederis grinned, "Good. Finish her off then meet me in the Zeta District," she lightly tapped Sawyer's cheek, "Don't worry. You won't die alone, your team will follow you soon."

Sawyer grinned, "You can kill a man with guns and swords, Sederis, but you will never kill their spirits."

Sederis smiled, "How philosophical of you. Wasea, kill her."

"One last thing, promise," Sawyer quickly said, and nudged the soldier holding onto her left arm, "Hey, you! Yeah, you. Scratch my nose, will ya? It's killing me. Get it, killing me."

The Eclipse soldier tilted his head at Sederis, but all she did was flick her wrist at him and walk away. Wasea could clearly see the insanity in Sawyer's eye, but she could also see that the human had a plan. Normally, Wasea would end it before anyone acted out their plans, but she couldn't bring herself to do that to Sawyer, therefore she allowed the Eclipse soldier to get closer to her.

Wasea could've sworn she saw a hint of gratitude in Sawyer's eye before she impaled the soldier with her biotics.

For someone who was medically diagnosed to be mentally unstable, Sawyer had incredible focus over her biotics that rivaled most matriarchs.

Wasea didn't attempt to help the other Eclipse soldiers or Sawyer; she simply stood and watched. She watched Sawyer focus her biotics into a pair of sais, and gracefully flow around the other Eclipse soldier. The sai slit the salarian's throat. He fell, and Wasea was momentarily mesmerized by the bright blue sais spinning in Sawyer's palms.

Sawyer's mouth formed a grim line, "I'm sorry, Cap. But I won't let them die."

Wasea pulled out her Carnifex, "And I can't let you go."

"Then I hope you can forgive me someday," Sawyer whispered before throwing her sais—one after the other—at Wasea. The biotic barrier that Wasea managed to put up blocked the first sai, but the second was a hair's breadth away from her head.

Wasea didn't get the time to compute what exactly happened, and how Sawyer managed to break her barrier before she had to dodge an incoming fist. She aimed at Sawyer's general direction and emptied her thermal clip, all of the shots missed. Two more sais formed in Sawyer's hands again, and instead of throwing them, she ran towards her mentor.

Wasea only had time to replace her thermal clip, before Sawyer kicked the gun away, the asari watched it as it slid to the ledge and—thankfully—it stopped before it fell over into the eezo containers.

"I don't want to kill you, Wasea," Sawyer pleaded, "Please, don't make me kill you."

"Sederis would kill us both," Wasea said, gathering her biotics, "Or worse. I can help make this easy for you."

"If I let you kill me, Will dies," Sawyer yelled, "I'm not gonna let that happen!"

"So be it."

Wasea shot a localized biotic blast at Sawyer's feet, forcing the human to jump away. The asari shot another warp field at an airborne Sawyer, knocking the human over the ledge.

She didn't know what came over her; she didn't know why she caught Sawyer before she fell to her death. But whatever the reason, Wasea couldn't bring herself to let go.

"_Cosa stai facendo?"_1 Sawyer yelled, "I thought your orders were to kill me, not save me! It's a miracle you got promoted to Captain, what with you getting your orders mixed up!"

Wasea was tempted to let go of the human's right arm, but in the end she chose otherwise.

"I won't have my best student dying on me," Wasea said through clenched teeth, "So hang on. I'm pulling you up."

"Wasea…" Sawyer mouthed, shocked speechless. Wasea didn't even know that Sawyer could ever shut up. Wasea started pulling, but stopped when she felt Sawyer's grip go slack.

"Sawyer, don't you dare let go."

The human smiled, "My sister used to say that it was better to die in the arms of the person you love than in the hands of an enemy. As much as I would love to die in your arms, I refuse to die by your hands."

Wasea's eyes widened as Sawyer showed her the Carnifex in her other hand, _"Questo è il mio addio."_2

Six shots were fired, and red blood was splattered across Wasea's face. She didn't know how long she sat there holding onto Sawyer's severed arm, and staring at where the human's body was consumed by the raw Element Zero.

Even if she survived the fall, she could never have survived the thirty gallons of pure eezo coursing into her system through her wounds.

No one could.

Wasea threw her head back in a pained cry.

* * *

1 "What are you doing?" = Italian

2 "This is my goodbye" = Italian


	14. Chapter 14

**_AN: Thank you all for the reviews and the follows. It's good to know that this story is being read and not just permanently dumped in the the archives. Just as a head's up, the next few chapters are going to follow Sawyer and Shep more than Hackett, just cause there's really nothing that goes on in Arcturus. Well, at least not until Mass Effect 3, then the place goes boom._**

**_ scorpio-666: To answer your question, Sheppy went fishing._**

**_ X2DarkLord: Lol thanks for the support and your dedication, it really means a lot!_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Omega Nebula, Sahrabarik, Omega, Zeta District_

_July 12__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

Will would have expected an attack from the Blood Pack or even the Talons. She would never have expected the Eclipse or the Blue Suns to betray Sawyer's squad at their own hideout.

To make matters worse, Wasea managed to lead Sawyer away on a _mission_ right before the other members started their invasion. To make matters even worse, since her cousin's current _occupancy_ with the Eclipse, Will was in charge of the safety of the forsaken group. She hoped Sawyer received her warning before it was too late.

Will ducked lower behind her cover when a bullet from a Suns trooper whizzed over her head, and she tried to locate all the members of Sawyer's squad. The two turians were easy to spot bickering with each other behind a pillar, but the asari was nowhere to be found.

Will feared the worst.

A figure materialized out of thin air next to her. Panicking, Will gathered her limited biotics into the palm of her hand, and was about to release the pent-up energy at the figure before a hand grabbed her wrist. Her biotics fizzled out.

"Easy," the asari said, "It's just me."

Will let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Ophelia T'Cura.

"Don't scare me like that," Will said, "I thought you were dead."

Ophelia rolled her dark brown eyes—a rarity among asari—and said, "You need more than troopers to kill me."

"Good to hear," the human peeked around the overturned table, and quickly turned back, a bullet chipping the side of the metal table. Will closed her violet eyes, and thought about what her cousin would do in a time like this.

The answer was simple: Kill them all.

But Will knew that because of her smaller frame—and her good hold on her anger—she would die before she made a dent in the mercenaries' numbers. The only way she would win this without Sawyer's help was to use her head.

She prayed to whatever deity would listen that Marian was safe.

T'Cura was an infiltrator through and through. She could sneak past any group and sabotage from the inside. In addition to that, she was deadly with a sniper rifle. But unlike all the other asari that Will has met, T'Cura had no biotic ability to speak of.

On the other hand, one of the turians, Quentin Eroth, had remarkable biotic skill—for a turian—and impressive tech ability. He could pick up where T'Cura lacked. The other turian, Jodi Septimus—her first name was unpronounceable, therefore everyone just called her 'Jodi'—was a talented engineer, not as good as Shepard, but she could still hack into almost any interface. And her combat drone, Terrorize—affectionately dubbed 'Terry' by everyone—could cause a lot of damage for a floating sphere.

Will opened the comm. channel between the members of the group.

"We're surrounded," Will—the underboss—started, "Jodi, send out Terry to draw their attention away from us. When that happens, I'm going to throw a _singularity _at them. Quentin, wait for three seconds before hitting it with a _warp. _Ophelia, snipe out the rest. Understood?"

"Say the word, twerp," Quentin exclaimed.

"Get ready," Will said, ignoring Quentin, and waited for a break in the Suns and Eclipse's shots, "Three. Two. _Now!"_

Terry was up and about causing trouble for the mercenaries, and Will threw a _singularity _in the middle, and quickly looked away before the miniature black hole exploded from the turian's biotic attack, killing most of the mercs in its radius. Four shots were fired in quick succession from the asari's rifle.

Will prayed for their souls.

"Terry's scanning the area," Jodi said, coming out of her cover, her mandibles twitched with a smile, "All clear."

"And I was just having fun," Quentin sighed, dramatically.

"Cowering behind a pillar is your definition of fun?" Jodi smirked.

Quentin was about to retort when Will stepped in, "Knock it off you two. Sawyer's missing, and I doubt that the Blue Suns and Eclipse were here just to say 'hi' with their guns blazing. Not to mention that they're probably planning another attack as we speak."

"Which is why we're leaving the system. Preferably the cluster, too."

Will let out a sigh of relief at the sound of Sawyer's voice, but gasped at the sight of her. Sawyer's clothes were tattered, and her face was littered with bleeding lacerations; however most of the blood probably originated from the severe vertical cut over her left eye—forcing it shut. But that wasn't the worse of her injuries though.

"Uh," Quentin started, "Need a hand, Boss?"

Sawyer glared and flipped him off with her left hand. Her only arm.

"What happened to your arm, Donna?" Ophelia asked, hesitantly.

"_Era in modo_1," Sawyer gave a one-shouldered shrug, "So, I shot it off."

"Morphine," Shepard explained from behind their illustrious leader, "Dopey."

Will could read Sawyer like an open book, most of the time, and watching her now, Will knew that Sawyer's flippant attitude had nothing to do with the morphine. She knew that to cope with the _disturbances _in her life, Sawyer would purposely lose control and allow her mental condition to be more pronounced. Luckily though, Sawyer never let it mess with her cognitive abilities. So far.

"Why are the Suns and Eclipse attacking us?" Will said, raiding the nearby med-kit for bandages.

"Santiago killed Zaeed," Sawyer said as Will approached to bandage the stump properly and the cuts on her face, "Six people held him down while the _pezzo di merda_2 pulled the trigger. Sederis was in on it. They're getting rid of anyone who might still be loyal to Massani. In other words, Shepard, and in turn me, and all of you by association."

Will hasn't seen that much blood on one person in her sixteen years of life. She didn't know one person could _bleed _this much. Memories of the slaver attack of Freedom's Progress—her home colony—resurfaced. Memories that she would prefer to stay buried forever.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to the Zeta District. Will shook her head, and smiled at Sawyer to show that she was fine. The elder cousin stared at Will for a few seconds before nodding and letting go.

"Spirits," Jodi paced, "What chance do we have against both the Suns _and _the Eclipse? We're only six people!"

"Can't fight back," Shepard shook her head, "Outnumbered. Can escape though. But where?"

"We can't leave the Terminus Systems," Will said, "the Council doesn't take too kindly to ex-mercenary members. And don't get me started on the Alliance."

"_Allora abbiamo soggiorno in Terminus_3," Sawyer decided, "We go to Illium."

"The hub of Eclipse territory?" Quentin gawked, "Did you get hit in the head too, Boss?"

The Donna glared, "Wasea is still the head of the Eclipse on Illium."

"The _Eclipse _are trying to kill us!"

"Wasea had the opportunity of a lifetime to kill me," the Donna shot back, "She didn't. Besides the Blue Suns want us dead more."

"I'm with you, Donna Sawyer."

Ophelia stood straighter, her hands clasped behind her back. Sawyer smiled warmly at the asari maiden.

"_Molto apprezzata_4, 'Elia."

One by one, every member of Sawyer's group joined in on their impromptu escape plan, even Shepard.

"Alright," Will started, "How do we leave the station without being caught?"

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, no one knowing the answer, until—

"Aria," Shepard spoke, "Aria T'Loak. Can reason. Maybe. Regardless, only chance. Sawyer?"

Sawyer nodded, "_Dagli dèi _, _spero che questo funziona_."5

"You don't have an arm," Will pointed out, "We have limited ammunition, and medi-gel. This is suicide."

"Your point?"

* * *

Aria T'Loak was more feared than respected, but on Omega there wasn't much of a difference between the two. Sanak heard rumors about Aria—the type that would make a krogan piss himself—but he never believed them. He was never able to fathom the idea of a nimble asari matriarch besting a krogan warlord in combat. He could never understand how that was possible considering he'd seen the same krogan beforehand, and the batarian couldn't remember ever being as terrified as he was when the krogan bared his teeth in a grin.

It wasn't until he started working closely with Aria as one of her personal bodyguards did he finally understand what exactly she was capable of, and why anyone in their right mind would fear the matriarch.

And when people feared someone as much as they did for Aria, they wouldn't dare attack her. Which basically meant Sanak had nothing to do most of the time.

At least, he wouldn't have, but when two figures—one noticeably shorter than the other—cloaked in black started up the stairs towards Aria's domain, the batarian knew that this day wasn't going to be ordinary in the least.

"_Lasciami andare, bastardo!"_6

Grizz tightened his hold on the taller figure's arm, "Aria sees no one, human."

"News," the shorter one said, "Of Suns and Eclipse."

Sanak grunted, and helped Grizz and Anto lead the two crazy female humans away from Aria before her bodyguards paid the price for the disturbance.

"Let them pass."

"But, ma'am—" Grizz tried to get his words through, but Aria's cold stare stopped him in his tracks, the turian sighed, his mandibles flexing, "Yes, ma'am."

Grizz and Anto moved away to let the humans pass, but Sanak stood his ground to growl in the taller human's face.

"Cause trouble, and I'll gladly rip your throat out, human."

An angry grey eye stared at him from under the hood, "I'd like to see you try, _faccia di merda_7_." _

The shorter human placed her hand on the taller girl's shoulder, "Focus."

The passive one removed her hood, and Sanak narrowed his eyes. Aria smiled, and crossed her legs.

"Shepard," she started, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Shepard looked at her companion before turning back to the Queen of Omega, "Suns and Eclipse after us. Need to leave. Can't without help."

"Interesting, you want my help to escape my station, but if I recall correctly, you managed to walk past all my guards to get to me. What's the Blue Suns and Eclipse compared to Omega's best?" Aria said, narrowing her eyes, "Now, tell me why you really need my help."

"Because Shepard can get away alone," the taller companion removed her hood, "but we have a team that is also at risk, and I'm not about to leave them here at their hands."

Aria narrowed her eyes, "You must be the Eclipse's Human-Lap-Dog."

"Heard of me, huh? I'm flattered. But I prefer Sawyer."

The Queen hummed, "And those _people_. Who are they?"

Sawyer glared, "You don't have—"

"Jodi Septimus. Quentin Eroth. Ophelia T'Cura. Willow O'Connor."

Sawyer grabbed the redhead's shoulder, "What are you doing?"

Shepard turned to her, "Lying won't help. Needs to trust us. Vice versa."

Aria smiled, "Ophelia? I was wondering where she went. Such a shame, she brought Afterlife a lot of money."

"Aria," Shepard said, "Please. Help us leave."

Aria T'Loak smiled, "I'll help you but you owe me a favor. Maybe not soon, and maybe not for years, but someday I'm going to cash it in. So keep your omni-tools on. Both of you."

* * *

Massani gasped for breath. He couldn't feel half of his face nor see through his right eye. He touched his hand to the numbness, and felt the familiar thickness of blood. Zaeed was going to kill that bastard Santiago and destroy the Blue Suns in the process. That was the only thing keeping him alive, and Massani knew that.

Rage was one hell of an anesthetic.

* * *

1 "It was in the way" = Italian

2 "Piece of shit" = Italian

3 "Then we stay in the Terminus" = Italian

4 "Much appreciated" = Italian

5 "By the gods, I hope this works" = Italian

6 "Let go of me, you bastard" = Italian

7 "Shit-head" = Italian


	15. Chapter 15

**_AN: This is one of those chapters that I have absolutely no idea what brought it on. So yeah. So far Sawyer's got the most chapters, and Hackett's got the longest one. And Shepard...Well, Shepard...yeah...I think that'll change when we hit the ME timeline...Well, I hope it'll change because what's a crime lord compared to the first human spectre? Am I right? Am I right?_**

**_No really, am I right?_**

**_Dragon53535: Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)_**

**_Speaking of the story:_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium, Nos Astra_

_November 8__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

Wasea woke up in a jolt, her hand already curled around the gun she keeps under her pillow. She nimbly turned and pointed the Acolyte pistol at the intruder cornered in the dark.

She glared, already feeling the onset of a hangover forming, "You have five seconds to give me a damn-good reason why I shouldn't blow your head off."

A familiar chuckle made its way to her ears, and Wasea almost dropped the pistol in shock. Despite the familiarity, she knew it couldn't be her protégé. It just couldn't be. She saw her fall to her death.

"Three seconds," Wasea growled, cocking her gun. She saw the shadow raise an arm up—the left arm, Wasea bleakly noted—in surrender, and walked forward into the neon lights coming from the window.

"Hey, Cap. Long time no see, huh?"

Wasea gaped. It was her; it was Sawyer, just as she remembered her, only with a few extra scars and minus the right arm. She prayed to the Goddess, but she never thought—

"S-Sawyer?"

"_Nella carne_1. Well, mostly. Your security is crap, by the way."

The asari captain slowly lowered her gun, "By the Goddess, how did you…?"

"Got lucky," Sawyer paused, "Real lucky. Shepard got me out before the eezo killed me. Though I guess I'm to blame for that one. Goes to show you what happens when you shoot your arm off," she frowned, "Just out of curiosity, Sederis still thinks I'm dead, right?"

"I," Wasea blinked, "Yes. Why wouldn't she?"

"_Bene_2," Sawyer nodded, and plopped herself on the foot of the queen-sized bed, "So, how have you been?"

Wasea's mind blanked. How had she been? She couldn't possibly tell Sawyer the truth. She couldn't tell her that her life has been hell ever since Sawyer fell. She couldn't tell her that her heart broke into tiny irrecoverable pieces. No, she couldn't tell her the truth. She had a reputation to uphold.

A pale, amused eyebrow rose, and Wasea cleared her throat, embarrassed, "Fine," she replied stiffly, "And what the hell were you up to?"

"Ah, you know," Sawyer drawled, "A little bit of this, and little bit of that. Which brings me to why I'm here," a pause, "I want the Eclipse off my tail."

Wasea tilted her head, "I can't do that, Sawyer. You know I don't have that kind of power."

"You're in charge of the Illium faction, last I checked," Sawyer's grey eye grew colder, "The bastards will blindly follow you, and I want them off me and my team," Sawyer flicked her wrist, "Call it a truce, _se si vuole_3. I stay out of your way, the Eclipse stays out of mine."

"What exactly are you planning to do here?"

"Can't say," the human's lips quirked, "Might jinx it."

"Sawyer."

"Sorry, Cap. All you need to know is that I might encounter trouble, and I don't need the Eclipse breathing down my neck on top of it."

Wasea stayed silent.

"C'mon, Wasea," Sawyer whispered, covering the asari's hand with her own, "Help me out, for old time's sake?"

"If Sederis finds out…" Wasea shook her head.

"If Sederis finds out, I'll deal with her."

Wasea missed seeing that fire in Sawyer's eyes, and the determination that was bordering on stubbornness. Wasea missed having Sawyer around. Period.

"I've missed you."

Pale eyebrows rose to the human's hairline, "Uh…"

Wasea gave Sawyer a blank look, "I'm three-hundred years older than you, asshole. So get your head out of the gutter," she lifted her nose, "And you're not my type."

Sawyer chuckled, wryly, "Ouch. Yeah okay, but if you convert that to human years, you're like what? Forty-five give or take a few years." A pause, "You're right. That's more than twice my age. Wow, Wasea. You _are_ old."

"I have a gun."

"Yes, I can see that. It's a very nice gun too. Very…patriotic of you."

Wasea gave her a dry look, "And here I thought almost dying would do something about that sense of humor of yours. Looks like I was wrong."

"I've missed you too, Cap."

They shared a smile, and Wasea's heart clenched as she realized that this was the first time they both held a relatively normal conversation with each other. Wasea looked down at her green comforter and sighed.

"I'll see what I can do about the Eclipse," she started, "But I can't guarantee anything. Especially if Sederis was involved."

"That's all I ask for. I'll keep my end of the bargain. We won't bother you."

Sawyer rose, "Take care of yourself, Wasea. And I hope we never have to go up against each other again. I don't think I can afford to lose another limb."

Wasea smiled softly as Sawyer left. Never again will Wasea ever doubt the power of the Goddess Athame.

* * *

1 "In the flesh" = Italian

2 "Good" = Italian

3 "If you will" = Italian


	16. Chapter 16

**_AN: What happens when you combine Mass Effect with The Godfather? You get a biotic Don._**

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium, Nos Astra_

_December 14__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

In six short months, what had started out as a rag-tag group from Omega grew into an organized faction in the criminal underground, known only as the Cavaliere Family.

And according to the right side of the law, Sawyer Cavaliere was the up and coming young entrepreneur, specializing in the creation and distribution of military-grade omni-tools, weapons and armor. Apparently there was no relation between Sawyer Cavaliere's company, Ariake Tech, and the CavaliereFamily_, _at least that's what the official records stated.

Okay, Keiji thought, so selling and distributing military-grade equipment to nonmilitary personnel wasn't exactly legal, but Sawyer Cavaliere had the right permits. And besides, he wasn't one to judge.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

Keiji smiled at the young asari secretary, Magara Bontess—her nameplate said—and he replied, "Abraham. Abraham Rumoi."

"Well, Mr. Rumoi," Magara typed away at the terminal, "Does a five o'clock appointment tomorrow sound alright?"

"Sounds perfect," he grinned, and slightly bowed, "Thank you, miss."

Keiji Okuda walked out, smiling from ear to ear. In exactly twenty-eight hours, he was going to get himself proper protection and possibly a new job.

* * *

Sawyer had a few bad habits and tendencies that Will despised. First and foremost, Sawyer's inability to give a straight answer. Second, her almost insatiable desire for revenge—although Will had tried talking her out of it, and for the most part, it seemed to work. And lastly, Sawyer's newly acquired smoking habits.

Will had never liked the smell of cigarettes—her father was a heavy smoker—but now she can't help but feel nostalgic every time she caught so much of a whiff of it. Luckily, Will had never told her to outright stop smoking, but Sawyer was smart and very perceptive. She stopped smoking around Will, which in itself was pretty impressive, and much appreciated.

Though, looking at her older cousin slouched over her desk, and rubbing at her eyes, Will felt somewhat guilty. She went over to the table with the assortment of glasses and liquor on the other side of the office.

She poured half a cup of scotch, and she could feel her older cousin's eyes watching her every move.

"Aren't you a little too young to be drinking?"

Will smiled, capping the bottle and tossing two ice cubes into the cup. She turned and walked back to Sawyer's desk.

"Considering we break the law at least three times a day, I don't think underage drinking is much of a problem," Will grinned, and placed the cup on the desk, "It looked like you needed it."

Sawyer sent her one of her rare and genuine smiles, before taking a much-needed sip. She looked back up at her cousin, her grey eyes shining with amusement, "And it's only illegal if you get caught, otherwise it's only business."

Will scoffed, "Or so you've said."

"Ms. Cavaliere," Magara's voice sounded through the intercom, "Your five o'clock appointment with Mr. Abraham Rumoi is here."

Sawyer frowned, "Already?" she sighed, and pressed on the intercom, "Alright, send him in."

She stood and faced the giant window behind her desk, her eyes darting over the Illium skyline.

"So, what do we know about Mr. Rumoi?"

Will pulled out the notes that she made on him from her omni-tool, "Ex-officer in the Alliance Intelligence Agency, for some reason or another he left. Surprisingly, it's highly classified. Since you didn't want us to owe anything to the Shadow Broker, we couldn't figure out what it was."

Sawyer crossed her arms behind her back—her bionic right arm, courtesy of Shepard, over her organic left.

"The Shadow Broker is nothing but a _sapientone bastardo_1_,_" Sawyer sighed.

"Right, of course," Will started, sarcastically, "How could I forget that the biggest _information broker_ in the galaxy is a know-it-all?"

Sawyer gave her _the look, _which was just a raised eyebrow, really.

"He, she, _it _could be helpful," Will continued, "The Shadow Broker could make your life easier."

"I am not selling what's left of my soul to the Shadow Broker for information or power. That's that."

Will frowned, and the door to Sawyer's office opened. The formally dressed man that walked in, Abraham Rumoi, was lean and muscular, the end result of the Alliance basic training no doubt. His light brown hair was about three inches long, and he had the beginnings of facial hair on his chin. Despite the professional attire, his hazel eyes were all humor.

"Ms. Sawyer Cavaliere, I presume?" he grinned, Americanizing the pronunciation of her last name.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Rumoi?" Sawyer said, stuffing her hands in her dark slacks' pockets and turning to face her guest.

"The real question here is, what can _I _do for _you."_

"I'm a busy person, _Messere2__. _I'm afraid I can't indulge you in these mind games of yours."

"Then allow me to reintroduce myself," he cleared his throat, "My name is Keiji Okuda, the best thief in the business, not the most famous. Need to watch my step to keep it that way."

Will tilted her head at the strange man, but Sawyer didn't even bat an eyelash.

"And what can a thief do for me, Mr. Okuda?"

"A lot of things," he smiled, but Sawyer's face remained impassive, "I hear the Eclipse might have some documents of yours in their possession. I could get them back for you."

_Documents? What documents? _Will turned to Sawyer, hoping she'd shed some light on the situation.

The Donna narrowed her eyes, "How do you know about that?"

"I have my sources. But I know they're important. And I know that _you _know that they're important," Keiji grinned, "Something like that can be dangerous in the Eclipse's hands, don't you think?"

"If you really do know, and I know, what's the use of keeping it a secret?"

"You don't know who's listening in," Keiji shrugged, "Could be Wasea."

"If it's in Eclipse hands, then Wasea should already know."

"Could also be Nassana Dantius. You don't want _her _to get her greedy and stubby hands on that kind of sensitive material. Do you? Because if you do, I'll tell you what's in the documents. Right now, if you'd like."

Sawyer frowned, then shook her head, "And you expect me to believe that you're doing me this _favor _out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Yes. Well, okay, no. I need a job. Unfortunately, business isn't really booming for me, and a man's gotta eat, right?"

Sawyer leaned over her desk, "I'm sorry, but I don't have need a fulltime thief in Ariake Tech."

"I'm not just a thief! I'm a lawyer, a damn good one too. I can be your legal councilor in this _thing of yours_," he smiled, and at Will's shocked expression he continued, "Yeah, don't act all surprised. I went to law school, graduated with honors, too. And I give excellent advice. Oh! I could be your _consigliere3__._"

Sawyer's lip twitched upwards, "The tradition states that a _Consigliere _has to be Sicilian, or at least Italian. You're neither."

"And the leader, the Don, is always male. And look at you! You're a girl! Let's face the facts, _Donna, _the traditions are well, old."

Sawyer grinned, "Tell you what, you get back the documents that Eclipse has, and we'll talk from there. Deal?"

"_Concordato!"4_

She shook her head, smirking.

"By the way, your accent is _pessimo_."5

Will led Keiji to the door, and locked it behind him. She turned back to the Donna, her back was to Will and the cup in her hand.

"Want me to keep an eye on him?" Will asked.

"No, not you," Sawyer said, "I want Ophelia in charge of it, and have her give me a report every hour. You find as much information as you can on him before I meet with him. I don't want to be at a disadvantage, again," she paused, "And while you're at it, have either Septimus or Shepard find out what's in those documents."

Will backtracked, "Wait, you don't know?"

Sawyer snorted, "Hell no."

* * *

1 "Know-it-all bastard" = Italian

2 "Sir" = Italian

3 "Advisor" = Italian

4 "Agreed" = Italian

5 "Terrible" = Italian


	17. Chapter 17

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium, Nos Astra_

_December 30__th__, 2172—Earth Standard_

Miranda Lawson trusted Cerberus with her life, but not with her sister's. As a result, she had to find someone to watch over her sister in addition to Cerberus. Unfortunately, Illium is filled to the brim with liars, cheaters, and thieves. And she didn't want any of them to watch over Oriana.

Money wasn't an issue, she just wanted someone reliable, and most of the citizens pointed her to the Cavaliere Family in Nos Astra. Usually she wouldn't work with criminals—and contrary to what the majority believed, Cerberus isn't a terrorist organization—but she would make a deal with the devil if it'd keep her sister safe from their father. The meeting with Donna Sawyer, however, didn't go as planned.

"So, from what I understand," Donna Sawyer frowned, "You want us to watch over your sister, without her knowing, and without letting us know who we're protecting her _from."_

"Yes," Miranda replied, "It's safer for everyone that way."

"Ms. Lawson," the Donna stood, rolling the right sleeve of her dress shirt, and showing Miranda the dark grey appendage, "I lost my arm fighting against an unknown enemy. I'm not putting my Family through this risk for whatever cost."

Miranda stiffened at the sight of the metallic arm, and her cold blue eyes met the Donna's grey, "My father is after her. He doesn't know where she is, but he is a very wealthy and powerful man."

The Donna smiled, "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Will you help?"

"_Domanda veloce_," Donna said, _"Tua sorella, e 'sei?"_1 Miranda nodded, "And why did you kidnap a little girl from her father?"

"Does it matter?"

Donna shrugged, "If you want my help, then yes. If you're just here to have a chat, then you're wasting both our time."

Miranda paced across the room—well, the more accurate term would be she _strutted_, "I didn't kidnap her, I rescued her. Father never cared for her; all he cares about is his dynasty. My sister deserves a normal life away from his idealistic expectations."

"_Cosi hai salvato la sua."2_

"Yes."

Donna Sawyer hummed, and activated her intercom, "Magara, tell Shepard to see me in my office."

After receiving confirmation from her secretary, Sawyer smiled at Miranda, "Well, Ms. Lawson. Shepard will be here soon, and she'll help you keep your sister safe. Now, normally I would ask for payment, but I won't for you."

Miranda felt her chest constrict, but she stayed silent.

"I want you to remember this favor I did for you, so if a day comes and I need your help, and may this day never come, I might ask a favor in return," Sawyer smiled, sweetly, "Until then, consider this as a gift for your success in evading your father with your sister safe."

* * *

Shepard counted three possible hostiles around Oriana and her foster family. She narrowed her eyes, they wouldn't dare attack in broad daylight, and in a public place such as the park. But Shepard knew to never take risks when a person's life was in jeopardy.

_What if they weren't trying to hurt her? What if they were innocent?_Shepard shook that thought out of her head as quickly as it appeared. She didn't have time to speculate. Sawyer didn't ask her to speculate, just to protect Oriana.

Just like how the Blue Suns never asked her to think, just do. And how the Tenth Street Reds were no different. Sawyer said this would be different. She said this would be a Family instead of a group of vagabonds. Shepard doesn't see how this is any different at all.

She pulled out her M-92 Mantis sniper rifle, and frowned. If Oriana got hurt, Sawyer would be upset at Shepard. Sawyer trusted Shepard, and Shepard trusted Sawyer, but Shepard didn't want to kill an innocent, and there was no way to know if those people were trying to hurt Oriana. Shepard decided to wait and see for herself what they would do. She just hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

Shepard looked through her scope, but a click made her freeze.

"Step away from the ledge."

Shepard slowly lowered the Mantis, and stood. She carefully turned around, her hands going behind her head. The asari Nos Astra Security Officer had her M-77 Paladin heavy pistol trained on the young human.

"You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say may be used against you in court," the Officer said, slowly walking closer to her. She continued through the comm. unit, "This is Detective Anaya, I have a sniper on the fourth floor of the T'Goni Trading Center. Over."

Detective Anaya cuffed Shepard's wrists behind her back, and Shepard didn't resist arrest. Despite Shepard's cooperation, Anaya was skeptical, and on guard. People started screaming from the park, and the asari quickly tried to see what had happened. Her pale blue eyes widened.

"By the Goddess…" she quickly turned to Shepard, "Do you have anything to do with this?"

Shepard took a peek at the three dead bodies, and the screaming civilians. She also spotted the back of a turian running in the other direction. Shepard's viridian eyes shot up, "Maybe."

Anaya jerked Shepard away to the Police sky-car, "Get in the car, you heartless monster."

Shepard winced.

* * *

Shepard finally understood why Sawyer kept Keiji Okuda around. He might've been annoying, and pompous, but he was the best defense lawyer around.

"Just for the record, Sheppy," Keiji grinned at Shepard through the rear-view mirror, "When they say 'you have the right to remain silent', do consider exercising it. Would save us a lot of trouble bailing you out."

Shepard stayed silent, and Sawyer sighed.

"Keiji," Sawyer said, _"Zitto.3__" _she turned to Shepard, "What happened?"

"Unlucky," the redhead shrugged, "Not aware. Got arrested. End of story."

"It's not like you to get distracted. Otherwise, I would've sent Quentin from the start. What's bothering you?"

"Illium is Omega," Shepard whispered, "No difference. Useless fights. Useless wars. Meaningless life. Corrupt officials. No purpose here. No purpose on Omega."

Anderson's words from six months ago echoed in her mind:

"_The galaxy's a big place, and the Alliance could use your skills. And you'd be helping people, instead of whatever it is Zaeed's making you do."_

"Need purpose. Otherwise just weapon. A tool."

"You're neither of those, Leo," Sawyer said, softly.

"Doesn't feel like it," Shepard paused, "Leaving soon. Can't stay here. Need purpose. Need _something."_

"Where are you going?"

Shepard blinked, "Alliance."

Sawyer closed her eyes, her own memory of the Alliance _helping _played behind her eyelids.

"Think about this for a few days, Leo," she eventually said, "The Alliance isn't all it says to be."

Viridian met slate, "Neither are you."

"Oh-ho, burn," Keiji grinned.

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium, Nos Astra_

_December 31__st__, 2172—Earth Standard_

Shepard looked nervous. Will didn't even know Shepard _could be_ nervous, but there she was fiddling with her hands, and avoiding eye contact with Sawyer.

And that raised another question, could psychopaths even _feel _nervous?

Will and Sawyer could both agree that Shepard wasn't a normal psychopath; the typical signs weren't there. Shepard wasn't charismatic—Will had never heard her say more than four words a sentence. In addition to that, Shepard couldn't relate to other people's emotions, and not once did she try to fake understanding either.

Regardless of all that, Shepard sat on the chair opposite Sawyer's desk, fiddling with her hands, and was she _chewing on her lip?_

Sawyer leaned forward from her spot on the desk, and placed her left hand on Shepard's left shoulder.

"You sure about this, Leo?" Sawyer muttered, and Will had to strain to hear.

Green eyes shot up, searching for grey, "Yes."

The elder sighed, and leaned back, smiling softly, "So I shouldn't bother to try and convince you to stay, huh?"

The redhead's lips twitched upwards, "No."

Will gawked, that was the closest she'd ever seen Shepard smile.

Sawyer grinned, "And I shouldn't mention that if you ever change your mind, you'll always have a spot ready for you here, right?"

Shepard mirrored the Donna's expression, "No."

Will couldn't stop her own smile from growing. Sawyer stood, stuffing her right hand in her pocket and extending the left towards the redhead.

"Then I wish you the best of luck in the Alliance. Hell, maybe you'll make them useful for a change," Sawyer smirked, and Shepard clasped Sawyer's forearm, "You've been a good friend, Leo. One of the best."

"Thank you," Shepard smiled, "Friend."

They let go of each other's forearms, and Will couldn't stop herself. She ran towards Shepard, and wrapped her arms around the redhead's neck.

"Don't forget about us when you're off saving the galaxy!" Will tried her hardest, but she couldn't stop herself from tearing up, especially when Shepard wrapped her own arms around the younger teen's waist.

"Never."

* * *

1 "Quick question. Your sister, she's six?" = Italian

2 "So you rescued her." = Italian

3 "Shut up" = Italian


	18. Chapter 18

**_AN: This chapter is a bit odd but I hope it makes sense...Well it includes Sawyer so I'm not sure how _much _sense can be made. And just as a head's up there are 22 footnotes here. Sorry, I got carried away with Google translate..._  
**

**_Anyway, a special thank-you shout out to Michael1110 for helping me with the asari scene :)_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Terminus Systems, Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Illium, Nos Astra, Apartment 27C_

_January 2__nd__, 2173—Earth Standard_

Sawyer woke up to a constricting pressure behind her eyelids. She rolled over, her sheets getting tangled between her feet before they hit the cold floor. She sat up and closed her eyes, groaning, as the room spun around her.

"_Nota per sé: licenziare il liquore,"_1 she grumbled, feeling around her bedside table for the clock. One grey eye peeked through her eyelashes, and then, _"Cazzo!"_2

Sawyer dropped the clock on her bed, and jumped up remembering too late that she never did untangle her sheets. Her knee hit the ground with a loud thud. Sawyer was glad for the solitude as she let out a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.

She froze as she felt a familiar cold presence on her shoulder. Her jaw muscles tightened.

"Wow, I never heard that one before," the voice chuckled with bemusement, "Think mom would appreciate you using the Italian language for expanding your vocabulary of curse words?"

"_Perché?"_ Sawyer whispered, screwing her eyes shut, _"perché mi odi?"_3

The voice was quiet, and she felt the coldness move from her shoulder to her cheek, and she slowly opened her bleary eyes to meet mournful jade. The pale woman kneeling in front of Sawyer pressed her lips together.

"I don't hate you, Marni," the woman whispered, "I could never hate you."

"_Lasciarmi poi_4_," _Marian uttered, "go haunt someone else."

The woman swallowed thickly, "Who? Everyone I love is dead, and everyone that's still alive can't see me. But you."

"Lucky me," Marian sat on the floor, her back resting on the side of her bed. The woman didn't move.

"Do you hate me?"

There was something about the way she said it that brought Marian to near tears. It sounded so insecure, so unsure of the answer to such an absurd question that all Marian wanted to do was gather the woman in her arms and chase those fears away. But she knew it was pointless. She knew she could never hold her again.

The woman would go right through her.

"Of course not, Cornelia," Marian wailed softly, bringing her knees up to her chest, "You know that I love you. _Tu sei mia sorella, per amore degli dei."_5

Cornelia sat next to her fraternal twin, her cold shoulder brushing against Marian's warm one, "Know what sucks about paradise?"

Marian gave her a sidelong glance, and Cornelia continued, "Not having your best friend to share it with."

"Know what sucks about life?" Marian retaliated, "Not having your better half."

Cornelia turned to her older twin, her jade eyes spilling specter tears, "I've missed you, Mar."

Marian reached out to wipe the tears, purely out of habit, but froze when her fingers went through her sister. Cornelia smiled sadly, and leaned her head on Marian's shoulder, cooling it.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Marian reached up to her bedside table and grabbed a small bottle of pills and a larger bottle of whiskey. Cornelia watched her pop a pill and then wash it down with the liquor.

"Mixing those isn't good for you," Cornelia uttered.

Marian shrugged with the shoulder that wasn't being used as a headrest for a spirit and said, "Maybe it'll kill me faster. The gods know this life is taking too long to end."

"Don't say that," Cornelia chastised, "You're still alive. That has to count."

"I might be alive," Marian said taking a long drink, "But it sure as hell feels like I'm in a coffin."

"Besides," Marian sighed, closing her eyes, "You were the one who was supposed to survive, Corny. _La galassia sarebbe meglio senza di me comunque."_6

"Don't say that—"

"It's true. You wanted to do something with your life. You wanted to help people, all I wanted to be was a farmer. Instead I'm a crazed lunatic with lethal combat skills."

Cornelia hugged her knees, "I remember those same combat skills saving my life from the batarians."

"Yeah," Marian scoffed, "What good did that do? _È ancora finito morto."_7

"Better to die in the arms of the person you love—"

"Than in the hands of your enemy," Marian continued, "Yeah, I know. I _know_."

Cornelia smiled, "Thanks for being there with me when I passed. I know it wasn't easy for you, but you really are the best big sister ever."

Marian rubbed at her eyes, "Not the best. If I were, you'd still be alive."

"Know what I think?" Marian shook her head, and Cornelia continued, "I think the gods spared you because they knew you could do good with your life. People look up to you, however misguided you may think that faith is, Mar. You're a hero to them. They can't live without you, but you need them just the same," Cornelia turned to her, "Face it, Marni. If you died I'd have been a first class mess, and the gods knew that. We're all part of a bigger plan, bigger than ourselves."

"The gods suck."

Cornelia smiled, "You could say that again."

They went silent again, and Cornelia broke it, "How long before the pills take me away?"

"On an empty stomach," Marian shook her head, "Not long now."

Cornelia looked down at her lap with a forlorn expression.

"Hey," Marian snapped her fingers in front of the spirit's face, _"Coraggio, passerotto._8 You get to see mom, dad and Talitha again."

"Marni…"

Marian's blood froze as the memory of the batarian raid assaulted her. Cornelia was leaving her again, and as a cruel joke from the gods, Cornelia cannot leave without making Marian relive her death. Glassy grey eyes turned to her sister, and she swallowed seeing the large rusted pole impaling Cornelia's chest, again.

Phantom blood was dripping from her smiling mouth.

"Hey, you made it," Cornelia whispered, "Is Rory with you?"

Marian saw the destroyed batarian ship—courtesy of her and Rory—in her mind's eye, and her heart constricted as she remembered Rory's final stand:

"_I'm blowing this ship up even if it's the last thing I do!"_

"Yeah," Marian forced out, "She's on her way."

Cornelia grinned, "You did it," she took a labored breath, "I always knew you could do it."

Marian tried but she couldn't stop her tears. Cornelia frowned.

"Why are you crying?"

"Happy tears," she lied.

Cornelia hummed, wearily, "Marni. I'm tired."

"Go to sleep, Corny," Marian choked up, "I'll wake you up when the Alliance get here."

Cornelia closed her eyes, "Okay," she started to fade, and Marian swallowed back her tears, "Good night, Marni."

Within seconds, Cornelia was gone, and Marian was left alone in her apartment, the only sounds being of her troubled breathing, and the occasional bouts of sobs.

* * *

_Nos Astra, Ariake Technologies Tower, CEO Office_

"I am sorry, Ms. Lawson, but Ms. Cavaliere hasn't arrived yet," the secretary, Magara Bontess, tried to explain to the pacing human, "She will, however, have a meeting soon and thus will be arriving shortly. If you desire, you can wait for her in the seating area and I will alert you when she arrives. Yet, I must warn you that she has many appointments today, and—"

Miranda turned to the unfortunate asari behind the desk and growled; "I do not care if she has a meeting with Citadel Council themselves. I will see her. _Now."_

"A-As I said," Magara cleared her throat, "Ms. Cavaliere should be arriving shortly. But I do not know where she—"

The brunette slammed her hands on the desk, and the asari jumped, "Then page her!"

"What's going on here?"

Miranda turned to the newcomer with murder in her eyes, while Magara sighed with obvious relief, "Thank the Goddess you are here, Ms. O'Connor—"

"Where's Sawyer?" Miranda interrupted, "I need to speak with her."

"She's not here," Will frowned, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't even know who you are?" Miranda seethed.

"Will O'Connor," she straightened, "Sawyer's right hand."

Miranda blinked, _that little thing is her right hand?_ "Sawyer promised me my sister's safety, right before she had three people killed in front of her!"

To her credit, Will didn't even flinch. She mentally frowned; Sawyer was rubbing off on her. That was never good.

"Is your sister alive?" Will asked.

"Yes," Miranda barked.

"Then your sister's safe. Sawyer kept her promise."

"Physically she's fine, yes," Miranda hissed, "But mentally—"

"_Lei è di sei anni, la signora Lawson_.9 If she remembers what she had for breakfast two mornings ago, that'd be half the problem."

Will raised an eyebrow at her suit-clad and obviously hung-over cousin, "What took you so long?"

"Overslept," Sawyer took a sip from her thermos.

"Not remembering it doesn't mean it won't stay in her conscious," the brunette fired back, "The event would haunt her in the future."

Sawyer half-scoffed and half-laughed, "Trust me, Ms. Lawson. There are worse things to be haunted by."

Will frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miranda asked.

"Nothing," Sawyer shook her head and turned to her secretary, "Magara, page Okuda, tell him to go to my morning meeting in my stead," after getting the required affirmation, Sawyer continued, unlocking the door, "We'll continue this discussion in my office. Ms. Lawson, Will?"

The three of them entered the spacious room and Miranda stopped by the chairs in front of the desk while Sawyer sat in the plush seat behind the desk and Will stood by the wall at the far right. Sawyer took a drink, this time longer, before sighing and rubbing her eyes.

"You can sit, if you'd like," Sawyer said, absently waving at the chairs, "They don't bite."

Miranda simply crossed her arms and Sawyer raised an eyebrow.

"Alright then," she leaned back on her seat and crossed her feet on her desk, "G'wan, chew my head off."

Will's frown deepened. Sawyer's behavior wasn't new, only rare. She would never talk to a potential client in that manner; she had too much built-in courtesy for that. Yes, her cousin showed up to work hung-over more times than Will wanted to count, but she never acted like that. Will tilted her head. The only time she did was when—

Will's eyes widened.

Sawyer crossed her arms behind her head, "What? Cat caught your tongue, Ms. Lawson? Not three minutes ago I could've sworn you were going to kill me."

_Oh, Marni, _Will mentally moaned, _You really gotta take your meds earlier._

"I should kill you," Miranda ground out.

Sawyer raised her eyebrows, "Yeah?" in one fluid motion she was over her desk and standing right in front of Miranda. The brunette moved her foot back, preparing for an attack, while Will slapped her own face with her palm.

Sawyer rubbed her head, wincing, before she knelt down and drew her small dagger from her ankle sheath. She twirled it a couple of times before holding it out to Miranda, hilt first.

Miranda looked from the dagger to the lunatic holding it, completely stumped. Sawyer tilted her head, slightly, "What? You said you wanted to kill me. _Così, qui. Prendilo_.10 C'mon, don't be shy. Your mother wasn't."

The brunette frowned, and completely out of ideas, she looked over at Will for any indication of what Sawyer was up to. It didn't help one bit that Will looked to be just as confused as Miranda felt.

Out of apparent options, Miranda took the dagger. She didn't know what was weirder, that Sawyer let her take it or the look of absolute _glee _when she did.

"What are you—?"

"Ah, ah, Will," Sawyer grinned, "A magician never reveals her secrets. Then again, I'm not a magician. Oh well," she felt around her neck, humming a soft melody, and then she stopped, her fingers over her pulse, "Ah-ha! So, Miri—_posso chiamarti Miri?_11—Anyway, Miri, just cut here and in three to five minutes I'll be gone. Dead. _Scaduto. Perirono. Lamentato. Defunta. Estinto. Terminato_.12 Pushing up daises. No more. Whaddya say? Just," she mimed slitting her own throat, _"slit. _Then it'll be done. _È così facile."_13

Miranda didn't move, and Sawyer's shoulders slumped. She reached for Miranda's hand and moved it and the dagger to her pulse point, all the while making eye contact with the blue-eyed woman.

"Come on, Miri," Sawyer whispered, leaning closer to her assailant—or victim, Miranda wasn't quite sure who had the upper hand here.

"Are you out of your mind?" Will had started to run and end whatever Sawyer was up to, but she was stopped mid-run by a biotic _stasis, _courtesy of her older cousin.

Miranda was forced to turn back to Sawyer when she felt more pressure being placed. A bead of thick dark liquid was squeezed out from the tip of the dagger.

"Don't have the stomach for it, Miri?" the corner of Sawyer's lip twitched, "Don't tell me you never took a life before. Come on, shaded eyes like your baby blues? I see that same expression every time I look in the mirror," Sawyer gave her a toothy grin, "We're not that different, you and I. We'd both kill for others, and we both enjoy it."

"I don't," Miranda uttered.

"Give me a break, Miri. You can't look me in the eye and tell me you don't enjoy watching the light fade from your victim's eyes, or hearing their breathing slow until it's gone," Miranda averted her eyes and Sawyer laughed darkly, "Told you. So, Miri. Would you do me the honor of sending me to Oblivion?"

Miranda's breath caught, "I—"

"Come on, I scratched your back, now you stab mine," when Miranda didn't move, Sawyer tried another approach, "C'mon, Miri, I screwed with your sister's mental state. _Mi sto lasciando prendere la tua vendetta_.14 Take it. Kill me."

The dagger pushed deeper into her flesh and Sawyer smiled, letting go of Miranda's hand. The pressure continued and a few more beads of blood dripped out, but suddenly it stopped, and the dagger fell to the tiled floor with a clank. For a whole minute, no one moved.

Eventually, Sawyer tilted her head, dejectedly, "_Mi sbagliavo._15 You wouldn't kill for your sister."

"Is that why you killed people around her?" Miranda glared, "Just so you can manipulate me to kill you?"

"No, those people dying was just a fortunate incident," Sawyer suddenly sounded exhausted, "I don't hurt people on purpose, Ms. Lawson. _Soprattutto gli innocenti._16 If I did I would be no different than all the other cutthroats on Illium."

"The only difference is the throat that's being cut is yours."

Sawyer smiled, tiredly, "Touché."

Miranda shook her head and headed for the door, but then stopped, "For the record, I would—and _did_—kill for my sister."

Sawyer crossed her arms, _"Allora perché non mi hai ucciso?"_17

Miranda sighed, "My sister's alive, sane or not that's yet to be seen. But," she half-turned, "if I killed you, you would've enjoyed it. I didn't want that."

"Wanted me to suffer, huh?" Sawyer chuckled, "Kinky."

Miranda's lip twitched into a small smile, "Good day, Donna Sawyer."

"Ms. Lawson," Sawyer said, "So long as I'm still alive, your sister will be in safe hands."

"Not as reassuring coming from a suicidal lunatic," Miranda called over her shoulder.

The door closed behind her, and Sawyer let out a drained sigh. She rubbed her eyes and turned to her frozen cousin.

"I'll let you out, but you gotta promise you won't yell at me," Sawyer said, and she waited for a few seconds for a reply knowing full well she wasn't getting one. She released the biotic hold and winced, anticipating a yelling session and was surprised when none came.

"What. The. Hell. Were. You. Thinking?" Will asked, enunciating each word.

"The gods suck," Sawyer leaned her entire weight on her desk, "Not even a pissed-off-older-sister-protecting-her-sibling's going to kill me," Sawyer turned seriously to Will, _"E 'il mio respiro?_18Is there something wrong with my personality, or do I not piss people enough for them to _want _to kill me?"

Will furrowed her brows, "Do you really want to die?"

Marian shrugged, lazily, "Yeah, I guess," she scratched the side of her head, messing up her hair, "Dunno. Just realized I got nothing to live for. _Nessuna famiglia ha lasciato."_19

"What about Seamus and Evangeline?" Will croaked, but Marian didn't seem to notice, "They're still alive."

"Love Seamus. Really do, but haven't talked to him for, what? Seven years now?" her expression grew darker, "And Evangeline made it perfectly clear where our relationship stood."

Will's vision starting swimming with unshed tears, "What about the Cavaliere Family? They need you."

Marian closed her eyes, "_No, non lo fanno _20, maybe they did, but between you, Keiji, Ophelia and the turians you could run this show better than I can."

"What about me?"

Marian opened her mouth to refute that claim but stopped, and clamped her it shut. Will closed her eyes, and clenched her fists.

"You can't die," Will stated with such conviction that almost seemed like it was _impossible _for Marian to die, "You just _can't._ You're the only family I have left."

"Will," Marian sighed, placing both hands on her shoulder.

"No!" she wailed, "No, no, you can't! I won't let you!"

_That what you meant, Corny? About needing each other? You were talking about Will, weren't you? She needs me to survive, and because of that I _have _to survive._

"Shh…" Marian pulled her into a hug, and Will continued to mumble into her suit, "It's okay, Will. It's okay. I won't die, I'll take good care of myself, just please stop crying, _va bene?"_21

A cold weight squeezed Marian's shoulders in reassurance, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Marian closed her eyes. _Corny, you wise bastard._

"Promise?" Will sniffled.

"Yeah, I promise," Marian kissed the side of her head.

"Do me a favor, _non hai mai cambiate _22, Will. Can you do that?"

Will looked her straight in the eyes, "Don't die and I won't have to change."

* * *

1 "Note to self: Lay off the liquor" = Italian

2 "Fuck" = Italian

3 "Why? Why do you hate me?" = Italian

4 "Leave me then" = Italian

5 "You're my sister, for the gods' sake.

6 "The galaxy would be better off without me anyway" = Italian

7 "You still ended up dead" = Italian

8 "Cheer up, little sparrow" = Italian

9 "She's six years old, Ms. Lawson" = Italian

10 "So, here. Take it" = Italian

11 "Can I call you Miri?" = Italian

12 "Expired. Perished. Lamented. Defunct. Extinct. Terminated" = Italian

13 "It's that easy" = Italian

14 "I'm letting you take your revenge" = Italian

15 "I was wrong" = Italian

16 "Especially the innocent" = Italian

17 "Then why didn't you kill me?" = Italian

18 "Is it my breath?" = Italian

19 "No family left" = Italian

20 "No, they don't" = Italian

21 "Okay?" = Italian

22 "Don't you ever change" = Italian


	19. Chapter 19

_**AN: One more chapter and Hackett, Sawyer and Sheppy all meet for the first time ;) For now please enjoy this brief interlude.**_

* * *

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station, Docking Bay F74_

_February 9__th__, 2173—Earth Standard_

Artie swore she wouldn't cry, but thinking about it now she realized how stupid it was considering she didn't have any control over her tear ducts. She clutched tighter at the back of her older sister's shirt—the camera dangling from her wrist by the strap—while the now-adult patted Artie's head, awkwardly.

"It's okay, Artie," Sky whispered, "I'll be back before you know it."

"What if you get hurt? Or—or you could _die?" _

Sky froze, then pulled her sister away by the shoulders to meet her teary blue eyes, "Nothing's going to happen to me, kiddo. Okay?"

Artie sniffled, holding out her pinky, "Promise?"

Sky smiled and locked their pinkies together, "Promise."

The preteen smiled through her tears, and Sky returned the smile, ruffling her younger sister's hair, before adjusting the bag strap on her shoulder and turning to Calleigh.

A cold, wet snout pressed to her palm, and Artie dropped to her knees and hugged the small furry half-dog and half-shark—a gift that Sky gave to Artie to keep her safe, though to Sky's dismay, Artie decided to name her Dakota.

The varren—Dakota—purred, rubbing her head against Artie's shoulder.

Sky and Calleigh were holding onto each other, Sky was whispering something into Cal's ear, while the blonde kept nodding against the brunette's shoulder. Sky pulled Cal away slightly, by the shoulders, smiling and still whispering. Cal smiled and whispered back. The brunette wiped her girlfriend's tears with her thumb, she leaned in.

Po sniffled next to her, and Artie turned to him, confused.

"Are you crying?"

"No," he said, vehemently, "I just have something in my eye," he rubbed under his nose with his forearm, "And my nose."

Artie smiled, and stood, detaching herself from Dakota. Normally she'd be tempted to tape him, but she just wrapped her arms around her twin's neck, and Dakota then pawed at Po's pant leg. He half-heartedly started pushing his sister away.

A hand on his head forced him to stop, he looked up at the honey-colored eyes of his older sister, and he stiffened. Sky smiled, and lowered her head a bit to reach his eye-level.

She poked at his chest; "You're in charge now, Apollo. Take care of Artie, and Calleigh. Got it? I'm trusting you to watch over them."

Po couldn't think nor speak, so instead he just nodded, enthusiastically. Sky grinned, and patted his shoulder. She crouched down to the sitting varren. Dakota straightened, and closed her panting mouth.

"And what do you do if someone messes with the twins?"

Dakota growled menacingly, her fur and the spikes on her back stood. Sky grinned widely, and stroked the varren's head, almost immediately Dakota started panting happily again.

"Good girl, Kody!"

Amanda smiled softly at the sight of Skylar all grown up. She'd be the first to admit that she didn't know Penelope as well as she'd have liked, but her eldest was a carbon copy of her. Steve and Penelope would have been so proud to see her finally pursuing her dream and following in her mother's footsteps.

The Alliance shuttle arrived, and after another round of tearful goodbyes, Private Skylar Hackett boarded the shuttle.

* * *

Commander Anderson opened the shuttle doors, and was pleased at the sight of the large number of potential recruits lined up on Arcturus Station's docking bay. One by one he stood as each recruit stepped onto the shuttle.

He was watching the recruits, but not really seeing them, that was until a short redhead passed him. He blinked, and quickly did a double take. A window seat closer to the back was occupied by a small redheaded girl with familiar hollow green eyes. Anderson couldn't help but smile at the sight of her on the Alliance shuttle. However his attention was quickly diverted to his ringing omni-tool. He frowned and checked his ten unread messages. Most of them were from Alliance Brass, but one—the newest message, and the cause of the ringing—was from an unknown sender. He frowned and opened it.

_To: Commander David Anderson, Alliance Navy_

_From: [UNIDENTIFIED SENDER]_

_Subject: Remember the vorcha?_

_ You don't know me, but I've heard about you. I've always had the utmost respect for the Alliance and its soldiers, and when a good friend of mine decided to enlist at your behest I was overjoyed. She has a lot of potential, and you should know. There aren't a lot of people who can kill a vorcha using a bystander's poisoned drink, am I right? I understand that you are a busy man, and I won't take more of your time. But I am asking you, as a concerned friend, to watch over her. I have absolute faith that you will keep her from harm's way, but if she were to be struck by lightning, or shot, injured or if she even hung herself in her dorm, I will be very displeased with the Alliance._

_Take care of yourself, Commander Anderson. _

Anderson's frown deepened. He knew the sender was referring to Shepard—there wasn't anyone else that killed a vorcha using his drink—but he couldn't figure out who the sender was. He knew the sender was threatening him, even though no threat was actually uttered, therefore he couldn't file this off to the Alliance, and try to locate silver-tongued sender. He sighed and closed his omni-tool. He'll worry about the message another day, for now he turned back to Shepard.

Another girl—a brunette—took her seat next to Shepard. The brunette smiled at her, and held out her hand.

"Hey, I'm Skylar Hackett."

Shepard looked at the hand then back up to the brunette—the War Hero's daughter—and shook her hand.

"Leo. Leo Shepard."


	20. Chapter 20

_**AN: Before we get on with the chapter, I just want to know if you'd rather I updated on Tuesday rather than Wednesday, because from now on the updates will happen on Wednesday nights instead Wednesday mornings. If you'd rather I upload on Tuesday let me know, and if no one replies I'm going to assume no one really cares about it.**_

_**Another thing (this is gonna be a long AN, sorry about it) a friend of mine, T-Shiro10, wrote a Criminal Minds fanfic (Prentiss/J.J. shipping). Now normally I wouldn't advertise stories, and before you jump into the conclusions, no T-Shiro10 did not force me into it, even though they are known to use force. (Prolly gonna die if they read this :P) Anyway, I've never watched a full episode of Criminal Minds, probably like the first five minutes or so, but I did enjoy reading this story, because it has aspects from Assassins' Creed. Do check it out, and I highly recommend it, it's called "To Promote Peace but Commit Murder." The link is below!**_

_**/s/9613483/1/To-Promote-Peace-but-Commit-Murder**_

_**Now the moment you've all been waiting for (I hope), the first (of many) times that Shepard, Sawyer and Hackett meet! Please note that it does skip forward one year...**_

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Local Cluster, Sol System, Earth, Brazil, Alliance Courtyard_

_March 7__th__, 2174—Earth Standard_

Artie ran past the graduates, the instructors, and a few proud parents, while still managing a surprisingly strong grip on Calleigh's wrist, and the other hand carrying her trademark camera. The younger teen grinned widely when she spotted the familiar wavy brown hair of her older sister saluting what Artie assumed was a superior officer.

She released Cal's wrist, and wrapped her arms around her nineteen-year-old sister's neck, and Skylar, not expecting to be ambushed right after graduating Basic Training, stumbled, her arms automatically going around Artie's waist. The officer smiled at the sibling exchange before walking away.

"Sky!" the fourteen-year-old took a step back, shoving the camera in her sister's face, "You made it! What have you got to say to our viewers about Basic Training?"

Sky laughed, pushing the camera away from her face to see her sister, and gawk over her growth spurt, "God Artie, you've grown," the nineteen-year-old started comparing their heights, realizing that Artie was just a few inches shorter than her, "Damn, kiddo."

Artie grinned, and stuck her tongue out before turning behind her to a blushing Cal, aiming the camera at her. The younger brunette pulled at the blonde's wrist, and placed her in between herself and her older sister.

"I'll leave you two alone," Artie smiled.

Artie walked away. She made it to the vending machine—still documenting the path she took—inserted her credit chit and tried to order a water bottle. Two seconds passed and nothing happened, Artie frowned, and waved her hand over the interface, but again, nothing happened. She glared, annoyed that the machine stole her money.

Someone kicked the machine and Artie jumped, placing a hand over her rapid-beating heart. She quickly turned back to the machine as it spluttered and spat out her water bottle.

"Sometimes you gotta show 'em who's boss."

Artie looked up at the kind stranger, and beamed, "Thank you, Miss."

The stranger smiled back, and knelt down to Artie's height; patting her head, "Don't mention it, _passerotto."_

Artie's eyes widened, looking up from her camera lens and meeting the stranger's grey eyes, "You're Italian!"

The corner of the woman's lip turned upward, "_Si, _well at least on my mother's side."

"Then you can speak fluent Italian?" Artie started jumping slightly on her toes, pointing the camera at the woman again, "That's so cool! No one can speak anything but English these days. It's sad."

"Easy, _passerotto,_" the woman chuckled, "Are you always this friendly when you meet strangers? For all you know I could be a serial killer."

"You're not," Artie said with total confidence.

The woman raised her eyebrow, "Oh? And how do you figure?"

"Look around you," Artie said; giving her the 'are-you-stupid' look, "We're surrounded by Alliance soldiers and graduates. Even if you try something, you couldn't get away with it; I have it recorded."

The woman chuckled, and leaned closer to the teenager, "What if I didn't _want_ to get away with it?"

"Then I'm screwed," Artie smiled, nervously, looking up to meet the woman's eyes again.

The woman leaned back, and laughed, "I like you, _passerotto_."

Artie tilted her head, "What does _passerotto _mean?"

The woman shook her head sadly, and smiled, "It means 'little sparrow.' I…it used to be my twin sister's nickname."

"You're a twin, too!" Artie gaped, "You have a twin _sister! _You're so lucky! I have a twin brother, and he's annoying."

"Brothers are usually annoying," the woman smiled, and leaned closer to whisper in the teenager's ear, "But the secret is to act like they don't annoy you, _passerotto_. Then they'll stop. Men act on their feelings, but women use their heads," she tapped the teenager's forehead, "Remember that."

Artie nodded enthusiastically, and the woman winked and continued, "You're a good egg, _passerotto. _But you trust a bit too easily," the woman looked over the teenager's head, "You better head back to your sister before she gives herself an aneurism."

Artie turned around and zoomed in to find that Sky was glaring at the woman. The teenager turned back only to find that the woman disappeared, she looked around at the crowd, but still couldn't find her. Artie pouted and stalked back to her sister and Cal.

"Who was that?" Sky started, grabbing Artie's shoulders and checking for the nonexistent injuries on her person, "Did she hurt you? What did she want?"

"I don't know," Artie answered, "No, and nothing. Is that all?"

Sky glared, and Cal placed her hand on the older brunette's shoulder, "Calm down, Sky. Artie's fine, and the lady looked nice enough."

"Am I the only one who noticed a sword on her back, and a gun hidden in her jacket?" Sky turned back to her little sister, "I love you, Artie; I really do, but you can be really stupid sometimes."

"There was a bow on the sword, Sky. It was obviously a gift," Artie huffed, offended, and Calleigh sent her a sympathetic smile.

"Let's just go back home, Manda and Po are waiting for you back at Arcturus," Cal said, placing her hands on Sky and Artie's shoulders.

Sky shook her head, "A friend of mine is coming with us to Arcturus. She doesn't have anyone to stay with until we're called for duty," she scratched the back of her head, "I kinda forgot to tell you about it beforehand. Sorry."

"Where is she?" Cal asked while Artie started recording everything around her, again.

"Well, she's a ginger, so she shouldn't be that hard to find," Sky replied, scanning the field.

"Ginger?" Cal asked, turning back to her girlfriend, and raising a suspicious eyebrow. Sky blushed, furiously.

The camera located a short redheaded girl in Alliance colors on the other side of the field. Artie grinned, and zoomed in on her. She immediately noticed a couple of things about the redhead:

One; she appeared to be young, but her viridian eyes spoke of a person who has seen things they shouldn't have. And two; she was talking with the nice grey-eyed woman. Artie grinned, "Found her."

The blonde and brunette turned to the teenager, and Sky smiled then frowned, she walked over to them in a fast pace, Artie and Cal exchanged a look before jogging after her.

* * *

"Here?"

Will smiled. Even after years of working closely with Shepard on Omega and Illium, she was still amused with Shepard's speech. It probably wasn't a nice thought, but Will was glad the Alliance didn't change Shepard much. Maybe there was still hope for the Alliance.

"Just came to congratulate you, Leo," Sawyer replied, unhooking the sword and sheathe from her back, "And to give you a graduation gift."

Her green eyes flashed quickly to her old sword, then back up to Sawyer's, and finally made a sweep of the surrounding, stopping momentarily when she spotted the human members of the Cavalierearound. Will grinned; nothing gets by good ole Leo Shepard.

"Not that," Shepard said, talking the sword from Sawyer, "Why Earth?"

Sawyer's lips twitched, _"Perché no?1 _I think Ariake Tech needs to get a foothold on a homeworld, and Earth seemed like a logical choice, since you know, I _am_ human and all."

"Ariake Tech or you_?"_

"_Non vedo una differenza,"2_ Sawyer winked, "But in all seriousness, your graduation is the main purpose."

"Uh-huh," Shepard said.

"I had Septimus make some _improvements _to your old sword," the white-haired Donna shrugged, "An electrical current will run on the blade when you twist the hilt. The reach of the current can be adjusted, but I don't really have to tell you that."

"Thank you," Shepard smiled, placing her sword at her hip.

"_Minimo che potessi fare_.3 Hell, you gave me back my arm."

"Won't make another," Shepard grinned, "Aim with gun. Might lose limb again."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sawyer drawled.

"Three people and one camera at nine o'clock, Sawyer," Will announced, and both humans turned at the same time. Three girls: two brunettes and one blonde. The older of the brunettes was dressed in the Alliance graduates attire, and glaring at Sawyer, while the other brunette was grinning behind the lens of her camera and pointing it in Shepard and Sawyer's general direction. On the other hand, the blonde was following the two brunettes, while holding hands with the older of the two.

"Sky," Shepard nodded at the older brunette.

"Hey, Leo," Sky said, her honey-colored eyes trained on Sawyer, "Who's your friend?"

Shepard started to answer when Sawyer cut in, "Name's Rory Carmichael and this is my cousin, Gabrielle. It's nice to meet you. And it's good to see you again, _passerotto._"

Will frowned, slightly worried, and Shepard turned to Sawyer confused, while the brunette with the camera grinned wider, "Thanks again, Miss. My name is Artemis Hackett, but everybody calls me Artie."

Hackett turned to her little sister for a fraction of a second before turning back to Sawyer.

"That's not an Italian last name, what's you real name?" Hackett demanded.

"Her mother's Italian," Artie interrupted, "Be nice, Sky."

"_In ogni caso, dovrei essere fuori,"4_ Sawyer said, "Take care of yourself, Shepard. And if you ever change your mind—"

"Won't happen."

'Rory' held her hands up, her white flag, and Cal noticed Sky glaring at 'Rory's' abdomen instead of her face, the blonde frowned and followed her gaze. She silently gasped at the gun hiding in her navy blazer.

"Just reminding you that you have options. Not forcing you into anything. Gabrielle, what time does our plane leave?"

"In an hour, _Rory," _Willow O'Connor replied with a frown, "Though we might run into some traffic so I suggest we leave soon."

"Where?" Shepard frowned.

"I'm headed to England, if you want a place to stay, just say the word," the grey-eyed woman smiled.

"Can't. Have to stay at Arcturus," Shepard paused, "Thanks."

Will didn't bother trying to stop herself, and threw her arms around Shepard in a quick hug, before returning to stand next to Sawyer again. Shepard simply smiled.

Sawyer nodded, "I'll see you around, _passerotto. _Sky," Sawyer turned to the blonde, and smiled crookedly, "_Bella5."_

Skylar glared, and stood between Sawyer and the blonde. Sawyer grinned and walked away with Will at her heels.

When she was out of sight, Sky said, "I don't like her. How the hell did you two even meet?"

"Complicated. Very complicated," Shepard said, and then turned to Artie and Cal, "Leo Shepard. Hi."

* * *

1 "Why not?" = Italian

2 "I don't see a difference" = Italian

3 "Least I could do" = Italian

4 "Anyway, I should be off" = Italian

5 "Beautiful" = Italian

* * *

_**AN: For those people that don't read the Author's Note, please do read the above one. I know it's long, but if you made it this far into the story I'm pretty sure length isn't a problem for you.**_


	21. Chapter 21

**_AN: I don't really know what to think about this chapter...I like it but at the same time I despise it. Anyway, a little head's up, there's a Sawyer monologue going on in there and to make it easier for you I didn't put any Italian words during it. So yeah. However, you get to know a bit more about the Rory Carmichael character, and why Will frowned when Sawyer used that name for an alias._**

**_And since no one vehemently opposed the idea of uploading on Tuesday (or the late upload on Wednesday) I won't change a thing. It'll just be a bit later than usual, is all. _**

**_Michael1110: I think everyone is just shy. I would start threatening them by saying "if I don't have x number of reviews I won't update" but I don't think that's fair for anyone else. You especially. Thank you for your regular reviews, you rock, mate!_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Local Cluster, Sol System, Earth, England, Chester, Hotel suite 4008_

_March 14__th__, 2174—Earth Standard_

Will shot up in bed, gasping. Her violet-blue eyes darted around the unfamiliar room, and she sighed in relief when there was no sign of a four-eyed alien with a dagger in her hotel room. She lay back down on the plush bed, wiping the sweat building up from the back of her neck.

She knew she wasn't about to fall back to sleep, not after a nightmare like that, but she didn't want to wake Sawyer up and worry her. She rolled over to her side, and found her cousin's bed empty and untouched. Will frowned, and got out of bed, attiring her complimentary robe. She wouldn't feel guilty about waking her up if she was already up.

She opened the door slightly, and almost choked on the smell of a dozen cigarettes. She flinched away and covered her sensitive nose with both of her hands.

"Gah! Marni! Open a window, will you!" Will reprimanded, though with her nose all scrunched up by her hands she didn't sound as annoyed as she wanted to be.

"_Mi dispiace1," _Sawyer drawled, putting out her cigarette into the filled ashtray and opening the window wider next to her. She rubbed at her eyes.

"Couldn't sleep?" Will asked coming up to sit across from her cousin while trying to wave away the thick smoke around the room. She pulled her knee up on the chair, and hugged it to her chest.

Sawyer shook her head, "I've got a dinner date tomorrow with an investor, and a breakfast meeting with Alliance Command. Not to mention lunch with the diplomat," she sighed, putting down the datapad in her hand, and picked up another one on the table, scanning through it, "Do you know how hard it is to find dirt on these _pezzonovanti2_?"

Will gave her a one-shouldered shrug, "The know-it-all could help, but you're too stubborn."

"No," Sawyer shook her head, "It'll hurt us in the long run. I'd rather take my chances going in blind. _Così dire3_."

The violet-eyed teenager nodded, resting her chin on her knee, and closing her eyes. Despite that, she could still feel her cousin studying her.

"Talk to me, _bambina.4"_

"I'm not a kid," Will sighed keeping her eyes closed.

"_Hai ragione,5" _Sawyer drawled, "You turn eighteen in," she paused and Will guessed that she was looking at the time, "Three hours. _Ma basta che.6_ What's really bothering you, _adulta7?"_

Will opened her eyes to glare half-heartedly at her grinning cousin, "Very funny, Marian," Sawyer kept her mouth shut, the datapads lie forgotten on the table, and waited for Will to speak. Luckily she didn't have to wait for long: "How…How do you deal with your, uh, first kill?"

Sawyer was silent, and Will was afraid she overstepped some invisible line by asking her about Mindoir. Will was about to take it back when Marian replied:

"_La colpa di uccisione non va mai via, né deve."_

Will blinked, "Uh, what?"

Sawyer smiled and reached over to flick Will's ear, and the younger cousin jumped.

"I said: the guilt of killing never goes away, nor should it," Sawyer started arranging the datapads on the table, "That is what _mio padrino8 _used to say, although it does sound a lot better in _Italiano," _she smiled, "You heard of Don Cesare Bertinelli, right?"

Will nodded, "The most dangerous and influential mobster on Earth, kind of hard not to hear about someone like him. Though I can't believe the _capo di tutti capi9_ is your godfather," she paused, "Or for the fact that you _have _a godfather."

Sawyer grinned and leaned back, "There's a lot you don't know about my mother's side of the family, Will."

"He's here, isn't he?" Will said, "In England I mean."

"Sure is."

"Are you going to see him?"

"Not if I can help it," Sawyer scratched the back of her head, "But he would want to meet with me if he knew I was here. Which knowing him, he probably already does. I don't trust him, call me paranoid, but something about him and his Family rubs me the wrong way."

Will smiled, slightly, "Takes one to know one."

"Funny," Sawyer replied, smiling nevertheless.

They succumbed to a comfortable silence for a few minutes with Sawyer studiously reading from the datapads, and Will watching her, before the younger said, "Are you still seeing Cornelia?"

Sawyer didn't look up, "You told me to take better care of myself."

"I did," Will agreed, studying her cousin carefully and caught the grey eyes flicker behind her then to datapad closest to her. Will leaned back on her seat, "She's here."

Sawyer smiled sheepishly, "She says hi."

"Marian—" Will started, exasperated.

"She also says to take it easy on me or she'll whack you upside the head in a," Sawyer frowned in concentration at what Will assumed where Cornelia was standing, "_ghostly smack of awesomeness? _Really, Corny?"

Will bit back a smile and her tears, but she turned to where Sawyer was looking, "You shouldn't really encourage her, it's." she stopped and smacked her forehead with her hand, "I'm talking to a ghost. That's it, I'm going to bed."

Sawyer laughed soundlessly, and Will suddenly shivered.

"Don't keep the window open for long," Will said, standing up.

"Sure, sure," Sawyer waved her away half-heartedly, but then her eyes widened, "Oh no…"

"Marni?" Will asked, "Are-are you—?"

"Yeah," Marian swallowed thickly, "She's on her way."

Will blinked, "Wha—?"

Marian tried to smile, but the tears made it almost impossible, "Happy tears," she paused for a while, before, "Go to sleep, Corny. I'll wake you up when the Alliance get here."

The coldness was forgotten, and Marian kept her eyes downcast. Will placed her hand over Marian's organic one, "Mar?"

"She's gone," Marian muttered barely audible.

"Did she…?" Will couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, but instead looked to where she thought Cornelia was standing.

"Yeah, just like Mindoir."

Will pursed her lips together, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Marian moaned, burying her face in her hands. Neither cousin moved, until Marian looked up.

"I was playing with Talitha in the backyard when we lost contact with the main settlement," Marian started, her voice low and devoid of emotion, "Mom and dad came out to warn us. They took Talitha with them to the hospital to set up a resistance, we weren't sure what was happening, but dad didn't want to take any risks," she smiled sardonically here, "You can take the man out of the Alliance, but you can't take the Alliance out of the man.

"He told me to get to the main settlements to get Corny back—"

"He sent you alone?" Will gawked.

"He gave me his pistol. Still have it too," she shrugged, "If he didn't send me, I would've went anyway. I think he thought it would be better to send me somewhat prepared. My biotics were still a bit off, and my bio-amp was only six months old at the time. I could barely lift a datapad, let alone defend myself against an attack.

"I snuck into the settlement, and I remember there were two batarians cutting open a kid's head and putting in the control chip, the boy couldn't have been older than Talitha. I remember thinking what kind of sentient being would do this to another. I didn't notice there was another one behind me until he starts yelling—I'm not sure if he was yelling at me or at something else, and I still don't know—but I ran to the kid and took him away from them."

She paused and looked at her left palm, while Will held her breath, afraid that one little sound would stop Marni from recalling the events to her.

"I tried to hide him away so they wouldn't find him," she whispered, her eyes glazed over, "But he bit my hand and called them to us. Two batarians found us, I think they were the same ones that put the chip in his head," she traces the horizontal scar on her cheek, "one of them had a dagger, and," she smiled humorlessly, "I thought he was going to kill me, or turn me into an obedient slave. I was stupid, and pulled out the gun. I don't know what I was hoping would happen, I guess I thought they'd go away once they saw that I was armed, and I wouldn't have to spill blood," she scoffed, "Fat chance of that. They just laughed at me. Then, out of nowhere, two precise arrows drop them. I knew it was Rory without turning around. No one in the entire colony has—_had—_better aim than her," she rubbed at her eyes, "She was dubbed 'The Huntress' for a reason. The little kid tries to yell out again, but…" Marian sighed.

"Rory killed him," Will muttered.

"Yeah. Yeah, she had a point, but I didn't want to admit to that. If she kept him alive, we'd likely be dead. She also said it's better to die than live the rest of his life as a slave."

"I can attest to that."

Marian smiled, softly, "We got to safety, and I asked her if she knew where Cornelia was. Apparently, the clinic she was at was the first to be hit," she shook her head, "The one time I'm not around, shit hits the fan. Rory said they were led to the ship—Corny and her boyfriend, Vince. I told her I was getting her back, and she said she'd help," she smiled, "Actually her exact words were: 'If you're stupid enough to go to the enemy ship and stage a rescue, you're going to need help. Luckily, unlike you, I don't have piss-poor aim,'" they shared a smile.

"We snuck into the ship," Marian said, suddenly turning somber, "Rory did all of the killing on the way, but eventually we found Corny and Vince relatively safe. We tried to get them out of the cages and the ship but," she sighed here, "But, a large group of batarians came about. Ro couldn't take them all out, and Vince—that idiot—picked up one the dead batarian's rifle and gave us covering fire."

Will rubbed her thumb over Marian's hand as she continued, "I don't know what was worse, losing my closest friend or hearing my sister wail over him," she rubbed at her eyes, "I guess it doesn't matter now. We got out and…"

For a full minute, Marian said nothing, and kept her grey eyes downcast. Will leaned forward a bit; she squeezed her hand and whispered, "Marni?"

Marni took a deep shaky breath, "I killed my first man that night."

"You don't have to—"

"No, no," Marni waved a lazy hand, "The Alliance tried to get me to talk to someone after the attack, but I didn't trust anyone enough. Maybe it'll help if I talk to someone who's alive about it for a change," Will pursed her lips, but Marian didn't seem to notice, "We—Corny and I—got separated from Rory and the others when a batarian started chasing us. There was another one around the corner, but I didn't see him until it was too late. He took me down, and the other one—the one behind us—grabbed Cornelia. Next thing I know, the first one was trying to," she closed her eyes, and breathed out, "Anyway, I bit his ear and pulled out my gun.

"We wrestled for it, and he ended up over me, but the gun was in my hands. I pulled the trigger, and took off half his face," she shook her head, "he was still twitching when I pushed him off. I didn't have the time to grab my bearings before the other one broke Cornelia's leg and came for me. I still had the gun."

Will tried her hardest, but she still couldn't keep a few tears from falling at the loss of her cousin's innocence. She decided to take a page from Sawyer's book, and try to diffuse the solemnity of the situation with a sorry-attempt at humor, "So, you shot the other one, and you didn't miss? I'm impressed."

Marian laughed, surprised, and opened her eyes to show her gratitude, "I think Cornelia was surprised the most. She never did forgive me for hitting her with that arrow in gym class.

"It didn't take us too long to get to the hospital, we thought it was the end of it. Just stay put 'til the Alliance shows up. Only dad didn't think they would get there in time—and he was right—so he devised a plan to show the batarians that we mean business," she frowned, "He rigged a bomb, and Rory volunteered to place it in one of the ships."

"Why didn't Uncle Garrett go?" Will asked.

"He hurt his leg during the last mission with the Alliance, otherwise he would've been all for it," she leaned back in her seat, "But I couldn't let her go alone, so I went with her. Don't know what good that did, she died in the blast."

"How?"

Marian sighed, "She was setting up the bomb and I was keeping watch when the ringleader appeared on the screens in the ship. He ordered the ship to leave and empty it's _contents _before coming back to restock.

"I tried to get her to forget about the bomb and focus on getting our neighbors out of here, but she wouldn't have any of it," she faltered, "I—I told her she was no better than the batarians for wanting to blow the ship and everyone in it up."

Marian stopped, and Will muttered, "You didn't mean that, did you?"

"Of course not," Marian mumbled, "I was pissed. If I could take back what I said I would in a heartbeat. Gods, Will, I love her."

Will's eyebrows furrowed slightly. Love, not past tense. Will couldn't believe that Marian still loved—_loves—_that whore. She only met her in person once, and that was when she was sucking face with her _catch of the day. _Despite cheating on her thousands of times, Marian took Rory back in a heartbeat. _If that isn't love_, Will thought bitterly, _I don't know what is._

"What happened next?" Will reeled her cousin from her thoughts of her ex.

Marian shrugged, "I don't know. All I remember is leaving her to get to the cargo hold, but I never made it before the bomb went off. When I came to, it was morning, the batarians were gone, the ship was in flames, and the hospital was completely destroyed. No one was alive except Cornelia, but even then," her voice trailed off in a choked sob.

Will went over and wrapped her arms around her shaking cousin, "It's okay, Mar. It's okay."

It felt weird to have their roles reversed, but Will was going to help her cousin get through this in any way she could. Even if it meant sticking by her and the Family.

"I couldn't even find Talitha's body," Marian sobbed, "I couldn't…"

Will tightened her hold.

* * *

1 "I'm sorry" = Italian

2 "Big Shots" = Italian

3 "So to speak" = Italian

4 "Girl" or "kid," = Italian

5 "You're right" = Italian

6 "But enough of that" = Italian

7 "Adult" = Italian

8 "My Godfather" = Italian

9 "Boss of Bosses" = Italian


	22. Chapter 22

**_AN: Yo listen up, Have a halla from Ron. Naked Mole Rap is the name of the song. Here's a story, in all it's glory, ain't hiding nothin'. Don't know what the truth is, how Ron met Rufus. Never heard a cat bark, never heard a puppy purr. My dad's allergic to every kind of fur. So I searched hairless pets on the internet, saw a jpg of a pink thing, gonna need sunscreen._**

**_..._**

**_Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway onto the story!_**

* * *

_Milky Way, Earth Systems Alliance Space, Arcturus Stream, Arcturus, Arcturus Station, Hackett-Kenson Household_

_April 14__th__, 2174—Earth Standard_

Artie had never seen someone so obsessed with old Western movies than Leo. Every time someone in the house would turn on the television and the familiar sound of hooves beating on the ground came through the speakers, Leo would glue her eyes on the screen and not move from her spot until after the show ended. She even stayed seated during the commercials. Who does that?

And it didn't help when Sky bought her a white cowboy hat for Leo's birthday three days ago. The same hat that was on Leo's head as she watched yet another Western movie with Po.

The door opened and Artie—looking for more interesting material to film—turned the camera at the front door.

"I'm just saying," Sky started with Calleigh behind her, "Mikey had more than enough time to jump out of the way before the car cut him in half."

"Let it go, Sky," Cal sighed for what sounded like the umpteenth time.

"What are you two talking about?" Artie asked her eyes fixated on the little screen.

"_Your sister _wouldn't stop talking about how horrible the directing was for the movie," Cal said, glaring at Sky.

"Why is she 'my sister' whenever she does something stupid, and 'your girlfriend' whenever she does something smart," Artie asked, then added as an afterthought, _"ish. _Smart-_ish."_

Sky glared at both of them, "Thanks, both of you."

"Don't mention it."

Sky rolled her eyes, and turned to Leo. She frowned and leaned on the back of the couch. She tapped on Leo's hat-clad head.

"Hey, didn't you already watch this movie?"

"Yes," Leo said not looking up at all.

"Huh," Sky turned to the screen, "I passed by the Alliance HQ," Leo looked up, her viridian eyes boring into Sky's, "Rory Carmichael died four years ago."

Leo froze then turned back to the screen, and Sky turned off the television. Artie had the camera trained on them, and Po shifted in his seat so he was facing Leo and Sky. The tension almost choked Calleigh.

"So, who is she?" Sky asked, "Really."

"A friend," Leo said, "A good friend."

Sky made a disappointed sound in her throat, "I was hoping you'd tell me, but I figured you wouldn't. Which is why I looked her up," Sky pulled up her omni-tool and cleared her throat, "Her real name is Marian Sawyer-Cavaliere. Born on December 21, 2153. She is the third born of five children, and her two younger sisters died on Mindoir during the Batarian Raid of 2170. The same Raid that Rory Carmichael died in. And another interesting fact, Ms. Sawyer-Cavaliere's _godfather_ is Don Cesare Bertinelli. You know the Boss of all the Mafia Families."

Artie flinched at the Americanized pronunciations, and she didn't think this was a good time to correct her either.

"That's where the information stops," Sky shut off her omni-tool, "And it doesn't explain how you know her, and it also doesn't explain why she gave us a dead person's name. So, Leo, what do you say about that?"

There was a few tense seconds of complete silence that Artie could've sworn that she could hear her camera whirring.

"Name's Marian?"

Sky's glare darkened, and Leo sighed, "Goes by Sawyer Cavaliere. CEO of Ariake Tech. Saved my life. Saved hers."

"How?"

Leo's eyes bored into the camera, and Artie slowly lowered it, and turned it off. The redhead's lip twitched upward, before sobering up, "Was in Blue Suns. Her in Eclipse. Met on Omega. Formed alliance. Suns and Eclipse deserted us. Tried to kill us. We escaped. Still after us. Uses last name. Convenient."

Everyone was silent, not knowing what to say after the explanation Leo gave. The redhead turned back to face the television and turned it on. Like nothing ever happened. Artie noticed that Cal was shaking.

"You…you were with the Blue Suns?" Sky asked, hesitantly.

"No choice."

"You always have a choice, Leo," Artie squeaked in.

"No," Leo shook her head, "Was weapon. Tool to be used. By Reds and Suns," she looked down at her feet and muttered, "And by Alliance. Still weapon. Always weapon. Can never change."

"Then why did you join the Alliance?" Calleigh's voice shook, "Why didn't you help your friend with her company?"

Leo smiled humorlessly, "Alliance safer. Also doing good. Sawyer's job dangerous. And questionable."

"What do you mean?" Sky frowned.

"_La Cosa Nostra."_

Calleigh, Po, and Sky frowned, but Artie's eyes widened.

"This thing of ours…" Artie muttered, "She's part of a mafia?"

"Not part. Donna."

"But…but she was so nice…" Artie mumbled.

Sky cursed and paced around the room, stopping in front of her little sister, "And you just _had _to give her your name."

Artie glared, "How was I supposed to know she was a Mafia Boss?"

"Won't hurt you," Leo interrupted, eyes still glued on the screen, "Questionable actions. Pure morals. Doesn't hurt civilians. Long as _omerta _is upheld."

"What the hell does that mean?" Sky glared.

"Code of silence," Artie rolled her eyes, "As long as we don't give her away, she has no reason to hurt us."

"But she's dangerous," Sky argued.

"Only to criminals," Leo said, "Hurting law enforcement taboo. Military personnel worse."

Sky flopped onto the couch next to Leo, and Calleigh rubbed her girlfriend's shoulder affectionately. Leo frowned, and turned to Sky.

"Name's Marian?"


End file.
